


To Save A Brother's Life

by Rikaeus



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, DifferentDF!Ace, DifferentDF!Luffy, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:34:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 66,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9321716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikaeus/pseuds/Rikaeus
Summary: Because Luffy had not eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi, his torture by Porchemy ended up much worse, causing Ace and Sabo to carry him, screaming for help. They run into Izo who helps them and invites them to stay with the Whitebeard Pirates! Join the ASL brothers on their adventures with the Whitebeards to the adventures Luffy has as the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, allied with the Whitebeards of course. ON HIATUS TILL MAY TO WRITE MORE CHAPTERS





	1. Please Save Our Brother!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so I know I’m already working on the OP/HP crossover but like I told you guys in the second chapter I have like eleven more chapters of that ready. This story I have like three more ready but will continue writing as I go. The update schedule for Death’s Gift to His Master and this will be weekly, thus meaning their updates will be three days apart. Also, as you’ve read this is a different devil fruit Luffy. As a fair warning his fruit may be considered overpowered but that has to do with the group it’s part of and the fact that the devil fruit was overpowered to begin with. Also, it’s a different Devil Fruit Ace. His I can outright tell you because you won’t know, well more be able to like figure out, how he gets it until the fourth chapter, it’s the Magu Magu No Mi. As usual this is slash but I’m kinda locked on LuLaw unless someone convinces me otherwise. Lastly, I’m writing this mostly to heal my heart from the pain that is Ace’s death so uh yeah, hopefully this heals your heart from that too

Blood. There was blood everywhere, from pouring out of their little brother’s cuts right into the blankets covering the wounds, on their hands, on their faces, and on the floor. All the blood was coming from their little brother, their precious little brother. Ace and Sabo actually hadn’t thought of Luffy as their little brother until this incident. When their stupid little brother refused to tell that pirate the location of their treasure. Oh Blue, did they feel guilty when they found their brother covered in bruises, and cuts, oozing blood everywhere. Their precious little brother was dying and there was nothing they could do about it. _Wait_ they remembered their little brother mentioning a town down the mountain. There has to be a doctor there! So with them carefully positioning their bleeding brother on Ace’s back they began to amble down the slope of the mountain, hoping they weren’t too late. Sabo had learned about blood loss in one of the few books he managed to talk Ace into helping him steal. It explained that while death by blood loss wasn’t exactly painful the wounds would be. And boy did Luffy, little Luffy, have a lot of wounds that looked agonizingly painful. Sabo was pretty damn sure that they would all scar. Thankfully Luffy was still breathing by the time they reached the town, Foosha Village they think Luffy called it. They then started screaming.

            “We need a Doctor!” Ace screamed.

            “Please, our little brother’s dying!” Sabo screamed with Ace.

            Soon enough a woman with green hair and a bandana with polka dots that Ace seemed to recognize ran out of a nearby bar that Sabo saw was called ‘Party Bar’.

            “Makino! Luffy- He’s dying!” Ace yelled, tears running down his face.

            Makino instantly knew something wrong because she had never seen Ace cry before, ever. It was then that she saw the bleeding bundle on Ace’s back and recognized it as Luffy. Sweet, adorable Luffy who would help her in the bar whenever he saw her overworked. But, there was one problem with their request, and it brought her to tears.

            “T-the doctor’s out of town.” She sobbed out.

            “What?!” Ace and Sabo yelled, unable to believe that they’d still lose their little brother.

            It was then that an androgynous-like voice spoke out that brought hope to them.

            “Hey, calm down, you kids need a doctor, right? It so happens to be that I am one.” The voice said.

            They turned, slowly of course as to not hurt Luffy and further, and spotted a feminine looking man, as to Sabo the structure was all wrong, wearing a kimono with his hair pulled up into a bun and a fan in his hands.

            “Yes! We need one! Our brother, he was captured by pirates and they did this to him!” Ace quickly explained.

            “Well, judging by the look of him we need to quickly get started. Follow me.” The man said, leading them to a ship tied to the port.

            On there was a man in what seemed to be a chef’s outfit with a dark orange-brown pompadour. He seemed to want to question the kimono-wearing man but stopped when he saw Luffy on Ace’s back. The man then just helped them onto the ship and into a room that seemed to be an infirmary. The man then pushed Ace and Sabo out of the room after they got Luffy on the table, which caused them to protest.

            “No, we want to stay with our little brother!” Ace yelled, Sabo nodding along.

            They were then promptly whacked on the head with the fan which despite its looks seemed pretty painful.

            “You two will be no help to your brother if I can’t focus while operating on him, no shoo go see Thatch, the man with the ridiculous pompadour. He’ll see about getting you cleaned up and fed.” The man said.

            The boys reluctantly agreed and trudged out of the infirmary as the man got started on helping their brother. When they reached the deck the man who was identified as Thatch was waiting for them.

            “Yo, so what happened to that kid?” Thatch asked, straight up.

            Sabo decided to answer that question because he knew that Ace wouldn’t be able to answer it without getting angry and guilt-ridden. Sabo could at least answer it without showing the signs of guilt. Even though he _was_ really guilty about what happened.

            “Luffy, our little brother, was kidnapped by pirates. Although it is our fault.” Sabo said.

            “No! It’s all my fault, you were just going along with me. If I hadn’t been such an ass to him this wouldn’t have happened.” Ace shouted, interrupting Sabo.

            Thatch gave a look to Sabo, as if asking him to explain.

            “About roughly six months ago Luffy was dropped off on us by his Gramps,” Sabo started, before Ace butted in.

            “Shitty Gramps said for Dadan to take care of Luffy but she dropped the kid off on us instead. I wasn’t…. happy about it and took my anger out on him a lot.” Ace said.

            “Why exactly did you take your anger out on him? It sounds like it was more than just becoming an impromptu babysitter that made you mad.” Thatch said.

            “… He was just so damn happy all the time. Always smiling and asking questions. Even when I did hurt him he’d just give me that stupid goofy smile and say ‘ _It’s okay I still like Ace!’_.” Ace said, guilt coming back to his face.

            Thatch was rather confused at that, usually people were glad to be around people like that. He knew he was rather happy to be around Haruta, his only little brother, who was happy almost all the time.

            “Why would that make you mad?” Thatch asked, deciding to voice his question.

            Ace looked down, scuffing his shoe on the ground, decidedly not looking at Thatch. Sabo sighed, and boy did it seem like he was doing this a lot today, and decided to answer the question for Ace, even if the boy would be mad at him for it.

            “Ace… isn’t used to people being happy for him or even like him.” Sabo said.

            “Sabo!” Ace whined, because to Sabo that wasn’t yelling, it was just Ace whining.

            “Hm, I guess I can understand that. A lot of my brothers were like that in the beginning.” Thatch said, musingly.

            “Brothers? How many do you have?” Sabo asked, interested.

            “Haha! I have ship loads of brothers. Didn’t you see the flag kids?” Thatch asked.

            Instantly the two looked up and gaped when they saw the flag. It was a skull with a big mustache on a bone cross. They immediately recognized it as the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates. Sabo knew it as the flag of the strongest man in the sea, but Ace knew it as the flag of the rival of his _father_. Blue, even in his thoughts that word sounded bitter.

            “You’re part of the Whitebeard Pirates? But if you’re pirates why would you save Luffy?” Ace said, having to ask that question.

            “Because, we wouldn’t allow a kid to die. Kid, not all pirates are like the ones who kidnapped your brother.” Thatch said.

            Ace and Sabo thought about it and it brought something to their mind. Luffy, when he managed to find them, would often talk about Red-Haired Shanks, who Sabo and Ace (well actually Sabo was the one who had to explain it to Ace) knew as one of the Yonko. But the way that Luffy talked about the man, admired him, told them that he was a really nice guy. Especially if that man had saved Luffy from getting eaten by a Sea King. Which made Ace realize he needed to learn manners so he could thank the man for saving his little brother. Which then he realized would be pointless if he died here. Thatch must have seen Ace’s face because he quickly eased his fears.

            “Don’t worry about your brother, Izo is the Commander of the 16th division and the best doctor in the Whitebeard Pirates. If anyone could save your brother it’d be him.” Thatch said, causing the two to breathe a sigh of relief.

            Right after that, the two looked down and grimaced. They were covered in splotches of Luffy’s blood. Ace even tried to scrub some of it off with his fingernails but it didn’t work. Thatch however gave them a smile and spoke.

            “How about we get you two cleaned up, I’m sure you don’t want to be covered in your little brother’s blood.” Thatch said, causing the other two to rapidly nod.

            Thatch led them into a different door on the ship that opened up to a big bathroom with a decently sized tub. He then ordered the two to strip and get in the tub, causing them to blush and say they didn’t need help.

            “We don’t need help!” Sabo said, beet red.

            “Yeah, the only one who needs help is Luffy, cause he’d drown otherwise!” Ace said before gasping and covering his mouth.

            That caused Thatch to raise a brow and Sabo to sigh and shake his head.

            “… You know the one time you gave advice to Luffy was to not blurt things out like that, and here you go doing just the thing you told him not to.” Sabo said, causing Ace to glare at him.

            “So what’s this about Luffy drowning in a bathtub of all things?” Thatch asked.

            “Well, Luffy’s not exactly the best with water. He hasn’t eaten a Devil Fruit but anytime he touches an amount of water like a bath or more he sinks.” Sabo said, ignoring the increased glare from Ace.

            “Huh, that’s pretty odd. Nobody just sinks from touching water unless they _are_ a Devil Fruit user. But still, I’m helping you guys. Or do you guys know _how_ to get human blood off your skin?” Thatch said musingly.

            Thatch, had a point there. The two knew how to get animal blood off their skin but human blood had to be different, right? To be honest though Sabo wasn’t sure there was a difference, none of his medical books had said that, but he didn’t want to argue with the man. He just wanted the blood _gone_. So they sat there in the bath as Thatch carefully scrubbed the blood off their bodies, making sure not to irritate the skin too badly. He also made sure to wash the boys’ hair, despite their protests, because he knew that if he didn’t Izo would hit him with his fan again. The crossdresser was very particular about appearance despite the fact that he was a _pirate_ and shouldn’t care about appearance. After he finished bathing them he wrapped them in towels and told them to stay there while he went to get them clothes to wear.

            “But can’t we wear our old clothes?” Ace asked, not wanting to accept more charity from the man.

            “Ace, our old clothes have Luffy’s _blood_ on them. I don’t want to wear them at all until the bloods been _burned_ off them.” Sabo interjected with a forceful look that instantly made Ace stop complained and blanch.

            Ace _did not_ want to wear Luffy’s blood either. He shuddered thinking about being anywhere near that again. It made him think of what Luffy said before he passed out, which curdled his blood and made his guilt rise up again.

            _“Nee, Ace I didn’t tell them where the treasure was… do you love me now?” Luffy said with his usual stupid grin before he fell to the ground, seemingly dead to the world_

Blue, that was absolutely awful… When Luffy said that his heart broke completely and he vowed to himself to prove his love to his little brother. He never wanted his little brother to feel like he had to prove himself to be loved again. He may doubt that he should have been born but.. _but_ _he didn’t want others to feel that way._ He would protect his brother’s happiness to the ends of the earth.

            “Fine..” Ace said weakly.

            So Thatch soon disappeared and the two were left alone to wallow in their thoughts. It was a while before Ace spoke of.

            “ _Blue_ , I can’t think of Luffy being dead.” Ace said hoarsely, as if the words ‘Luffy’ and ‘dead’ hurt to say.

            “Same here, if he were to die it’d seem like all the life in the world would just.. vanish.” Sabo said.

            They mused a bit before Sabo spoke up again.

            “You know, now that I realize it, Luffy’s always wanted our love and attention.” Sabo said, thinking about it.

            “How’s that?” Ace said, haven’t realizing why.

            “He shared his meat with us.” Sabo said simply, as if that explained everything.

            And it did, Luffy was utterly crazy about meat. For Luffy to even think of sharing it with somebody meant that he wanted your attention and for you to like him. Luffy had always gave a share of his meat that he caught to Ace and Sabo. Even the meat from the only crocodile that Luffy managed to kill, and Luffy loved crocodile meat the most. Blue, how did they not realize it?

            They were quickly drawn out of their thoughts when Thatch returned with a pair of shirts, shorts, and underwear. The odd thing was they looked like their clothes. Thatch seemed to catch on and explained.

            “That lady, Makino I think her name was, gave them to me. Said she got them from your home, said she knew that you’d want a different change of clothes.” Thatch said, causing Ace to smile.

            “Did Makino ask about Luffy?” Ace asked, wanting to know, confused when Thatch shuddered.

            “Yes, she did. She even threatened to skin me alive if she didn’t get an update when he woke up.” Thatch said.

            That caused Ace to shudder as well, having experienced Makino’s mother hen attitude before.

            “Ace, how do you know Makino-san?” Sabo asked, having never met the woman.

            “Oh, she would occasionally come up to Dadan’s to check up on me. I’m surprised she never mentioned Luffy to me though… I’d probably have treated him better had she.” Ace said.

            “For the fear of her motherly wraith?” Thatch asked.

            When Ace nodded his head rapidly it caused Sabo and Thatch to break out into laughter.

            “Hey! You’ve seen it first-hand how scary she is when she’s in mother hen mode.” Ace said, pouting.

            “True… so how about you finish explaining how it was your fault that kid ended up that way while you get dressed?” Thatch asked.

            That sobered the mood and the kids quickly got to getting dressed, Ace explaining the problem.

            “We stole treasure from pirates and a bit later Luffy had found us… I tied him up and left him there where he was found by the pirates…” Ace said, once again the guilt showed on his face.

            Thatch however tried to cheer up the kid, not liking the look on his face.

            “Hey, the good thing is you brought him to find a doctor, right?” He asked.

            “Bu-“ Ace started.

            “Are you going to let that happen again?” Thatch asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “NO!” Ace and Sabo shouted.

            “Then there’s no problem, and from what you said about the kid he’ll definitely forgive you.” Thatch said.

            It _was_ true, Ace had tried on many different occasions to kill Luffy but Luffy had always forgiven him. It had actually infuriated Ace that Luffy would forgive him so many times which is why he kept trying. Now Ace flinched whenever he thought about Luffy’s smile while he was bleeding from Ace’s most recent assassination attempt.

            “I guess…” Ace muttered.

            Soon enough though both Ace’s and Sabo’s stomachs growled, causing them to blush.

            “Ahaha! I think we need to get some food if you’re making those noises, come on.” Thatch said, leading them out of the bathroom.

            As they were heading to the kitchen Sabo decided to speak up.

            “Are you sure you have enough food? Ace here’s like a black hole and uh, Luffy’s not much better.” Sabo said, causing Ace to make a sound of protest and blush once more.

            “How bad could it be?” Thatch said, Sabo knowing the man would regret those words.

            And regret them Thatch did. He was utterly shocked when he saw how much food Ace ate. He had to keep cooking more food and had quickly realized that they would have to restock on food before they left. But thankfully soon enough Ace was full, as Sabo had been full a while ago. It was about then that Izo had came in, his kimono covered in blood, and looking exhausted. He plopped himself on a seat in the kitchen, which to Thatch was very uncharacteristic as the man always acted with grace. Ace and Sabo looked up at the man, the question clear in their eyes.

            “He’s going to live.. but he lost a lot of blood. It was really lucky when I found out he had F type blood. Because if he was S negative I’d have to have Thatch donate.” Izo said with a sigh.

            “F type? S negative?” Ace asked, confused.

            “F type is a relatively common blood type and it can receive blood from its own type and S negative. However, S negative can donate to all others but only receive blood from itself. And we are out of it, which reminds me I need to get some from you Thatch later.” Izo said.

            “But Izooooo. I don’t like donating blood. I mean I do, just not the process.” Thatch said, whining.

            “We need you to donate so if something like what happened to the kid happens to one of our crew members we’ll be prepared.” Izo said with a roll of his eyes.

            It had always been a chore and a half getting Thatch to donate as Thatch wasn’t fond of needles whatsoever never mind the fact that the man was surrounded by sharp objects on a daily basis.

            “So… when is Luffy going to wake up?” Ace asked.

            “It won’t actually take that long, maybe a day. That kid is nothing if not resilient.” Izo said, remembering how many times he thought he had lost the kid but his body just suddenly started fighting again.

            That had actually made the two brothers once again sigh in relief. Speaking of brothers it brought an idea to Ace’s mind but he needed to ask first.

            “W-would Luffy be able to have a small bit of sake when he wakes up?” Ace asked tentatively.

            That caused Izo, Thatch, and Sabo to raise an eye brow. Izo and Thatch because that was a question they weren’t expecting. Sabo because he had no clue what Ace was up to.

            “Why? Also, you’re a bit too young for sake.” Izo asked.

            “Ah… There’s something I want to do with Sabo and Luffy and it kinda needs sake.” Ace said.

            Izo could see that the kid was being sincere, even if he didn’t know exactly what the kid wanted with sake. So he instead changed his inquiry.

            “How small is a small bit?” Izo asked.

            “Just enough for a ceremonial sake cup.” Ace said, still not revealing what exactly he had planned.

            “Hmmm, as long as it’s a tiny bit and not a full sake cup it _should_ be fine. Any more than that and it would compromise his recovery.” Izo said.

            “And I’ll assume you’ll need three ceremonial sake cups and a bottle of sake, right?” Thatch asked.

            Ace nodded at that.

            “Alright kid, I’ll provide you with it. Just listen to Izo though, he is the head doctor of the crew.” Thatch said.

            “Okay.” Ace replied.

            After that they had realized that it had gotten late and that the boys needed to get to bed. They had however, begged to be able to sleep in the infirmary with Luffy to which Izo relented and moved a second infirmary bed next to Luffy’s. It was with Sabo and Ace curled up by Luffy as they slept that Izo found them the next morning. Thatch had come by and set the three cups and small bottle of sake on the table by the trio for whatever Ace had planned sometime after that.

            When Luffy woke, he felt sore all over and a bit sleepy. What he didn’t expect to see was him in a room he didn’t recognize, all bandaged up, and with Sabo and Ace sleeping right next to him. Then he froze as he remembered what had happened to him but quickly calmed when he realized they weren’t chained up. Gramps had, after all, explained to him what pirates did to their prisoners. So, it was with trepidation of what to expect that Luffy tried to wake Ace and Sabo.

            “Ace… Sabo… where are we.” Luffy said, nudging the two.

            The two boys fluttered open sleepily but quickly widened when they realized that their little brother was awake. Carefully, because they knew it would hurt if they jumped on him, they hugged Luffy.

            “Lu! You’re awake!” Ace shouted.

            “Lu?” Luffy asked curiously, as Ace had never been this nice to him before, no matter how hard he tried to befriend before.

            “Yes, Lu. Me and Sabo have decided to adopt you as our little brother.” Ace said firmly.

            Luffy’s eyes started to water, causing the two to freak out, mainly Ace, thinking they said something wrong.

            “Lu! Why are you crying!?” Ace asked in a panic.

            “B-b-because I’m happy. Ace loves me now. Sabo loves me too.” Luffy said, sniffling.

            That one sentence cause the two’s hearts to clench and Ace to ask a question.

            “Lu… why were you trying so hard to befriend us?” Ace asked, unable to resist asking.

            “Because…. I’m always lonely and being lonely is the worst feeling in the world.” Luffy said with a sad smile.

            Okay, that’s it. Ace and Sabo’s hearts just shattered. Luffy was _lonely_ which was why he was trying to befriend them. And all they did was rebuff him and try to kill him, well actually only Ace tried to kill him but Sabo didn’t try to stop Ace so it’s just as bad, if not worse. Blue, Ace wanted to go back in time and punch his slightly younger self in the face. Repeatedly. Ace then quickly noticed the cups and bottle of sake and scrambled over to grab them. Once he had them in hand he ambled over to the other two and thrusted a cup to each of them.

            “What’s this for?” Luffy asked curiously, causing Ace to blush.

            “I- uh I had read about something before called Sakazuki.” Ace started.

            Instantly with that word Sabo realized what Ace was doing, which made him smile his toothy smile.

            “What’s Sakabuki?” Luffy said, stumbling over the word.

            “Sakazuki Lu, it’s uh a ceremony where people share a cup of sake. And uh, ah, they become brothers.” Ace said, blushing even harder.

            “That sounds so cool!” Luffy said, stars practically in his eyes.

            Seeing that Ace wasn’t going to stop blushing any time, Sabo grabbed the bottle of sake and poured a tiny bit into each cup. By that time Ace had actually stopped blushing and held his cup up in the air, the others matching him after that.

            “After this, we become brothers in all but blood. Family. We will always look out for each other no matter what and will go to the ends of the earth to protect each other. Kanpai!” Ace said, clinking his cup with everyone else.

            They quickly then knocked the cups back, grimacing and coughing at the burn the drink brought to their throats. Although that wouldn’t remove the bright smiles on each of their faces. Outside the infirmary room were Izo and Thatch who were smiling brightly at the trio. Izo quietly closed the door and turned to Thatch, gesturing to him to follow. Once they were out of hearing range Izo spoke to Thatch.

            “You’re already attached to those brats, aren’t you?” Izo asked.

            “Yup, although can’t you say the same? Despite not interacting with the three it’s hard not to get attached. They’d be wonderful additions to our family.” Thatch said.

            “Mhm, we could ask them if they want to join us but…” Izo said, trailing off.

            “They might not accept, that Ace kid doesn’t seem like he’ll trust easily.” Thatch said.

            “Yeah, the only reason that he probably trusts us is because I saved his brother and you by association of me.” Izo mused.

            “I mean, it doesn’t hurt to try.” Thatch said.

            When they went back to the room Izo wanted to squeal a bit. Sitting on the bed was Luffy curled up between his two older brothers. It was rather adorable at how the two seemed to dote on him. Not wanting to wait anymore though he opened the door and walked in, Thatch following behind.

            “I see someone’s finally awake.” Izo said.

            Luffy looked over and gave a big smile that warmed Izo’s heart.

            “Hi there! I’m Luffy! Who are you?” Luffy said.

            “I’m Izo and this is Thatch.” Izo said.

            “I-Izo and Thatchy?” Luffy asked, causing Izo to chuckle at Thatch’s indignant expression.

            Sabo however, bowed and then apologized.

            “I’m sorry, Lu’s not that good with names, he probably only got Izo’s right because it’s rather easy.” Sabo said.

            “B-But my name’s easy too!” Thatch said, protesting.

            “Calm down… Thatchy.” Izo said, hiding a snicker.

            “Why you!” Thatch said half-heartedly.

            Once again, the boys’ stomachs growled, causing all of them but Luffy to blush.

            “Do you guys have any meat?” Luffy asked, with puppy dog eyes, that promptly caused Izo and Thatch’s hearts to melt as well as Thatch to forgive the boy for butchering his name.

            “Yes, we do, uh Izo can the kid leave the room?” Thatch asked, eyeing all the bandages.

            If the kid did seem to eat as much as Ace, then it would be hard to get that much food into the infirmary. Izo seemed to think about it for a little bit before answering.

            “Yes, but he’ll have to be carried so as to not reopen his wounds.” Izo said.

            That caused Ace and Sabo to promptly pick up their brother, Ace grabbing the top half and Sabo the bottom half. They maneuvered themselves to the kitchen, following Izo and Thatch. It was there that they found already prepared food, Thatch having prepared it in advance so he didn’t have to constantly cook to feed them. What surprised Thatch and Izo was the process of all three of them stealing food from each other. It wasn’t like that last night.

            “Why are you three stealing food from each other?” Thatch asked.

            Sabo and Ace pointed to Luffy.

            “He usually ends up starting it by sneaking food from our plates, despite how obvious it is. Although, he avoids the meat.” Sabo said.

            “Why’s that? I thought the kid liked meat?” Thatch asked.

            “I do! But I love Ace and Sabo so it wouldn’t be right to steal their meat.” Luffy said, with a mouth full of sausage.

            Ace and Sabo painfully resisted the urge to hug Luffy as from Luffy that was the sweetest thing he could say. Instead, they just smiled at Luffy who, after swallowing, smiled back.

            “So… we have a question for you.” Thatch said, causing the three boys to look at them.

            “We want to know if you want to join our family, our crew.” Izo asked.

            All three boys’ eyes widened but the first to speak was Sabo.

            “You want us to join the Whitebeard Pirates?” He asked, hesitantly.

            “Yes, with us you’ll be a lot safer than here. I’m sure the pirates who uh, harmed your will probably still be looking for you.” Thatch said.

            That seemed to make Sabo realize something as he turned to Ace and whispered something into his ear. Whatever he said caused Ace to turn rigid before calming down and gesturing to Luffy. Sabo sighed and nodded before turning to Luffy.

            “It’s up to you Luffy, what do you want?” Sabo asked.

            “Up to me? I never get to decide things. But if we join you guys then I can’t be Pirate King! Pirate King can’t serve under another captain!” Luffy said.

            Izo and Thatch wanted to laugh at the kid because that was a very big dream. However, they held it in and decided to ask him why.

            “Kid, why do you want to become Pirate King?” Thatch asked.

            “I want to become the Pirate King because he’s the one with the most freedom in the world! Also because I promised Shanks to become the best pirate!” Luffy shouted, clutching at the straw hat that Thatch and Izo just noticed on the kid’s head.

            They instantly froze when they connected the dots. The name Shanks and a very, very familiar straw hat.

            “Shanks, as in Red-Haired Shanks?” Thatch asked tentatively, causing Luffy to furiously nod.

            “Yup! Shanks gave me this hat and told me to return it to when I become a great pirate!” Luffy said.

            Sighing as Luffy had left out some details, Sabo decided to explain.

            “Shanks had apparently visited this village that Luffy had lived in about a year ago and ended up saving Luffy’s life from a Sea King that lives in the area.” Sabo said, remembering the explanation from Luffy who had constantly talked about the man.

            Once again the two Whitebeard Pirates connected the dots again, remembering that around that time Shanks had lost an arm.

            “So you’re the kid that Shanks had lost an arm saving? He wouldn’t stop talking about you the last time he visited, calling you his pride and joy.” Thatch said.

            Mentioning Shanks seemed to cause the boy to practically glow and vibrate with excitement.

            “You guys know Shanks?!?” Luffy asked.

            “Yeah, he visits Pops occasionally to share drinks. But anyways, you don’t exactly have to join our crew, just live with us and be part of our family.” Thatch said.

            “So… I could be a captain of my own crew?” Luffy asked.

            “Yeah kid if you wanted to.” Izo said.

            “Alright then, I accept!” Luffy said.

            Ace and Sabo nodded to each other.

            “If Luffy accepts then so do we. But, don’t expect us to trust everyone right away.” Ace said, adding the last part with a glare.

            “You mean don’t expect you to trust everyone right away. Knowing Luffy he’ll accept everyone right away.” Sabo said.

            “Yeah, you’re right… Luffy don’t talk to strangers unless we’re there.” Ace said, turning to Luffy.

            “Shishishi! Alright Ace!” Luffy said, laughing.

            “Cool! Then we can leave for the Moby Dick tomorrow if you want, unless you guys need to get something or say goodbye to someone?” Thatch asked.

            The boys seemed to think for a second before speaking.

            “We need to get our treasure… but the pirates might be wandering the area.” Ace muttered.

            “Treasure? We could get it; the pirates shouldn’t be a problem.” Thatch said.

            Ace seemed to contemplate this for a second before giving Thatch a narrowed look.

            “Alright, but if I see we’re missing even one Belly I will kick your ass.” Ace swore.

            That seemed to make Thatch laugh and ruffle Ace’s hair, which the boy protested vehemently.

            “We also need to say goodbye to Dadan, she did let us live with her…” Sabo said.

            “Don’t forget Makino!” Luffy said.

            “Where does this Dadan live? I know where Makino lives.” Thatch said.

            “Dadan lives on the mountain with the other bandits.” Ace said, causing Izo and Thatch to sputter in shock.

            “You lived with bandits?!” Izo said.

            “Yeah, shitty gramps put us there. Although, Sabo moved in of his own volition.” Ace said, causing Sabo to gap.

            “Wow! You know a word like volition! I’m so proud of you Ace!” Sabo said, causing Luffy to snicker.

            “Hey! I can know smart words too! You can’t be the only smart one.” Ace pouted.

            Izo and Thatch smiled at their interaction, not surprised at all at how quickly they became attached to the trio. Although, Thatch _did_ have one question.

            “I’ve heard you mention this ‘shitty gramps’ before, but who is he?” Thatch asked.

            The three of them all seemed to collectively shudder violently.

            “Gramps is mean! He always hits us with his Fists of Love and tries to turn us into Marines.” Luffy said, rubbing his head.

            “Yeah, he says it’s training but I don’t believe him at all.” Ace said.

            “… That doesn’t answer their question. Uh, I believe shitty gramps is called Garp. But if he’s actually Luffy’s blood-related grandfather then he’s Monkey D. Garp.” Sabo said.

            That caused Izo and Thatch to pale.

            “Vice Admiral Garp? As in Garp the Hero?” Izo asked.

            “I think that’s what Dadan called him.” Ace said, not really sure.

            “Is that going to be a problem?” Sabo asked, worried that Garp would ruin their chance to get away.

            To be honest it wouldn’t be a problem. While publicly Garp was known to vehemently despise pirates, he was actually a really good friend of Whitebeard. He would, like Shanks, occasionally visit for drink or two with Pops, warning him of Marine activity that might be of worry to Oyaji and his crew. But Garp was a really scary and strong person.

            “Not at all, it’s just…” Thatch started.

            “Shitty gramps scares you? We understand.” Ace said, the three boys nodding solemnly.

            The three boys understood very well the fear that Monkey D. Garp put into a person.

            “Anyways, I think we should just send a letter to Dadan.” Ace said.

            “Why’s that?” Thatch asked, curious as to why they didn’t want to visit the person who raised them.

            “Because, shitty gramps it the person who practically threatened her to raise us. That way when said shitty gramps finds out, he can’t take it out on her because she wouldn’t have been able to stop us.” Ace said.

            “Wow! Knowing fancy words _and_ thinking things through! You’re on a roll today Ace.” Sabo said, once again causing Luffy to snicker.

            “Stop doing that! I can think things through!” He protested.

            “… Says the boy who charged a bear three times your size.” Sabo said, causing Ace to turn around and not look at him, blushing.

            “Ace’s idea is actually really good. But why not Makino-san?” Izo asked.

            “Because, gramps is afraid of Makino.” Luffy said simply.

           That amazed the two Whitebeard Pirates. The fact that somebody _actually_ scared Garp was astounding. So with that the boys first penned a letter to Dadan and then with the help of Thatch and Izo, as the boys still had to carry Luffy, went to Makino. When they got to the Party Bar, Thatch and Izo made their way to where Ace had told them they hid their treasure. With Luffy, Ace, and Sabo when Makino saw them she dropped the plates that she was carrying.

            “Luffy!” She shouted, running over, but stopping when Ace blocked her way with his hand.

            “He’s still hurt, the only way we could get him here was to carry him.” Ace said.

            Makino looked up and down at Luffy before nodding. She could see why they were carrying Luffy.

            “How are you Luffy?” She asked with a concerned look.

            “I’m okay, but I’m really sore.” He said with a bright smile.

            She then had them sit down at the bar where she brought them something to drink. She then asked them what they were visiting her for, not that she didn’t appreciate it.

            “We came to visit you before we leave.” Sabo said.

            “Leave? Aren’t you heading back to Dadan’s?” She asked.

            Ace promptly shook his head before answering.

            “No, we’re leaving with the people who saved Luffy. They asked us to join their family, the Whitebeard Pirates.” Ace said.

            That answer almost caused Makino to drop her glass.

            “The Whitebeard Pirates? But why?” She asked.

            “Because we’re not safe here. The pirates that did this to Lu might come back to finish the job. Also, the other reason’s Sabo’s secret to explain.” Ace said.

            Makino turned to Sabo who squirmed under her gaze before sighing.

            “I-I’m a son of a noble. I ran away and they might try to get me back.” Sabo said, glancing down.

            “Ah, well that’s a good enough reason for me. Your safety is paramount and if you want to go then you can go.” She said, nodding.

            That shocked Sabo, as he wasn’t expecting that response. Most people hated nobles on sight because of what they represented. However, the shock quickly faded and Sabo smiled brightly before handing over a letter.

            “Can you give this to Dadan. It’s a letter explaining where we are going. We don’t want to get her in trouble with gramps.” Sabo said.

            Makino took it and nodded.

            “I’ll see that it gets to her safely.” Makino said.

            Shortly after that Thatch and Izo came into the bar. Thatch had a large chest hoisted over his shoulder and Izo had like eight different grocery bags in his hands.

            “Did you kids finish everything you needed to?” Thatch asked.

            Makino promptly walked up to the two and bowed.

            “Thank you for saving Luffy.” She said.

            Izo promptly blushed for being put on the spot, Thatch however just laughed at Izo’s embarrassment which made Izo hit Thatch with his fan. Izo then quickly turned to Makino.

            “It was no problem at all.” Izo said with a smile.

            “No really thank you. I also hear you’re going to be taking them with you. So please, treat them kindly and take care of them.” She said.

            “Don’t worry, they’ll have lots of brothers to watch over them and I’m sure Marco will be a mother hen about them.” Thatch said, waving it off.

            “Marco?” Sabo asked, curious about the people they’ll be meeting.

            “Ah, Marco’s the First Division Commander. He’s sort of the Mother Hen of the crew.” Thatch said.

            After that they decided they should get back to the ship as Izo had food supplies that needed to be refrigerated. So they headed out and once again had Thatch and Izo help get Luffy onto the ship. They spent the rest of the day with Izo and Thatch telling them various stories about their soon to be brothers. Of course, Ace wanted to know how long it’d be before Luffy was fully healed and Izo said that with Luffy’s surprisingly good healing rate it’d probably only take about five days give or take. Which actually would be the amount of time it’d take them to get to the Moby Dick. Afterwards they had dinner and then sent the boys off to bed where they fell asleep, Sabo and Ace cuddling Luffy. The very next morning they set off, waving goodbye to Makino who was there to see them off. Next stop, Moby Dick.


	2. Moby Dick Ahoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, welcome to the second Chapter of To Save A Brother’s Life. So far I have seven chapters ready for this. I would have more but I’m also working on getting chapters together for a Time Travel OP AceLu fic. It’s unique to say that much because I’m using information from Totto Land Arc. I’m on the second chapter for that so far. Death’s Gift, as you probably know is on a weekly update as well as this one, and I still only have thirteen total chapters for it but that should last me a while. Also, I noticed you guys didn’t realize what the Magu Magu no Mi was which is weird considering it’s a fruit that a lot of Ace fans despise with a melting passion. Ahaha anyways I’m still taking in suggestions for both this story and Death’s Gift, and if you guys want you can suggest pairings for the Time Travel fic, (I’m calling it This Time I’ll Save Everyone) I can’t guarantee I’ll include it but there’s always a chance. Also, before we get onwards with the story did you know Law likes collecting commemorative coins? Yeah, I learned that while reading the SBS’s.

            The days following their departure from Dawn Island was filled with a lot of cuddling between the three boys. They refused to let Luffy out of their sight and would always be holding. Most of it was because of the fact that Luffy himself was too adorable not to cuddle. The other part was because of what had happened back at Dawn Island. The two boys were afraid that if they let him out of their sight that something would happen to their little brother. Of course, Luffy didn’t mind this at all. In fact, he was ecstatic about the attention that his two new big brothers were giving him. Because, it proved to him that they loved him and that he wasn’t lonely anymore. So, Luffy relished the attention that was thrown on him by Ace and Sabo. He had also found out that if he looked at them right he could get them to do just about anything for him. But, Luffy wouldn’t abuse that privilege, because he didn’t want to get his brothers mad at him.

            Of course, Thatch and Izo both found it hilarious and adorable. Thatch had taken it up to tease Ace about it any second a day.

            “You’re such a bro-con Ace.” Thatch said, causing Ace to blush beet red.

            “I’m not a bro-con!” Ace protested loudly.

            Sabo however was snickering in the background, that traitor.

            “I dunno Ace, you’re protective to the point that you’re always cuddling him. You’d even do a lot of things for him.” Sabo said.

            “Yeah but you do it too!” Ace protested again.

            “I know I’m a bro-con but I’m pretty sure you’d kill anyone who’d think to harm Luffy.” Sabo said calmly.

            “You’re damn right I would.” Ace said without refuting the statement, causing the others to chuckle.

            Luffy just comfortingly snuggled into Ace’s chest. Ace was always a nice source of warmth, even if nobody knew why.

            A few days later as they were approaching the Moby Dick something happened, Luffy started whimpering and they didn’t know why.

            “Lu, what’s wrong?” Ace asked, confused.

            Luffy had never acted like this, he was currently curled up in a ball against him, his bandages finally removed and wearing his usual red shirt and blue shorts.

            “There’s too many voices.” Luffy muttered.

            “Too many voices? I don’t hear anything.” Thatch said.

            “Too many voices! Happy voices, Tired voices, Sad voices…. Hateful voices.” Luffy whimpered.

            “Lu… are you saying that you can feel people’s emotions?” Sabo asked.

            “I-is that the right word? I-it sounds right.” Luffy muttered.

            Thatch and Izo seemed to look at each other.

            “Could it be?” Izo asked.

            “But in a kid this young?” Thatch asked.

            They had learned two days back that a couple months back Ace had turned eleven, Sabo turning elven about two weeks back, and Luffy was seven, going to turn eight soon. Luffy never would give them his birthday, saying it wasn’t exactly important. But anyways, his age was much too young for what they were considering.

            “What are you guys talking about?” Ace demanded, wanting to know what was wrong with his little brother.

            “Ah, um, there’s this thing called Observation Haki. Simply, it lets you predict people’s movements. But there’s people who can actually _see_ people without looking with their eyes. But… I’ve heard rumors of Luffy’s ability..” Thatch rambled off.

            “It’s been called the ability to hear the Voice of all things, emotions from anything from humans to animal to plants to even objects. The last person rumored to have this ability was Gol D. Roger. But… even so Observation Haki isn’t something that is awakened generally at a young age.” Izo said.

            As soon as Izo mentioned Ace’s _father’s_ name he stiffened but eventually relaxed. Even if he had to listen to something about his _father_ he would just for Luffy’s sake. It hurt him almost physically to see his little brother in pain.

            “So.. so how would we go about finding out if he has it?” Ace asked, gulping in a breath of air, sending a weak smile Sabo’s way when he saw his proud look.

            “It’s actually rather simple. Luffy, how many voices can you ‘hear’?” Izo asked.

            “A-ah. I think three hundred and twenty-five?” Luffy said, never really having to count that high before but the number just coming to his mind.

            Ace and Sabo were shocked, because like Luffy had said, he had never been really good with numbers. To be able to count that high, even if they didn’t know that it was actually Luffy’s ability that gave him the number, was astounding.

            “Well, I guess that confirms it…” Izo said.

            Suddenly Thatch brightened up and smiled.

            “I have an idea, hey Luffy. Focus on the largest voice you can hear and only that voice.” Thatch said.

            Luffy started searching for that voice and quickly he found it. Instantly he felt warm and safe, just like when he listened to Ace and Sabo’s voices recently. The focused voice seemed to drown out all the other voices where it and only it sounded out.

            “Now… what do you feel?” Thatch asked.

            “I.. I feel, happiness, love, joy, pride… It’s… so nice.” Luffy murmured, snuggling further into Ace.

           “Whose voice is that?” Sabo asked, wondering who would have a profound effect on their little brother.

            “That, would be Pops. Even without Luffy’s ability I know that Oyaji’s love and joy for all of us is huge. He’s always smiling and laughing, just like Luffy.” Thatch said, with Izo nodding as well.

            For a second, the two big brothers paled at thinking of a captain just like Luffy, the strongest man in the world at that. Izo seemed to catch on and chuckled.

            “No, while his emotions are much like little Luffy’s here, he’s much more level headed than your brother. Pops just really cares for all of us. Just like how Luffy cares for you two.” Izo said with a smile.

            That prompted the two brothers to fondly smile at their little brother. Suddenly however a flaming bird flew off the big ship that looked like a whale and landed on their ship. It then promptly turned into a blonde-haired man with an open blue shirt that revealed the man’s chest. On the man’s chest was a purple cross with a crescent facing upwards on it.

            “You two are home early, yoi.” The man said before noticing the kids.

            Luffy saw the man and instantly perked up, still focusing on Whitebeard’s voice but it was in the background now.

            “Pineapple!” Luffy shouted, pointing at the man.

            Instantly the man got an irritated look but the rest of them broke out into laughter at that.

            “His head _does_ look like a pineapple.” Thatch said.

            “Any more comments and I will toss you into the sea Thatch, yoi.” The man said.

            “Ah calm down Marco, we’re just having a laugh.” Thatch said with a smile.

            Ignoring Marco, he turned to Izo, who he knew to be the less mischievous of the two.

            “So, who’re the kids, yoi.” Marco said, giving them a once over.

            “Ah, we picked up the three over on Dawn Island. It’d be a bit easier to just explain it to Oyaji.” Izo said.

            “Alright, yoi. But if they’re staying they’re your responsibility, yoi.” Marco said.

            Luffy looked up at the man with big puppy dog eyes and a sad face.

            “D-do you not like us?” Luffy asked, sniffling.

            Sabo had to promptly hold back Ace who was currently cursing and threatening the man for making their little brother sad. However, Luffy’s puppy dog eyes had their unintended effect and made the man practically crumple in front of them.

            “Ah-no, uh. I don’t hate you guys, yoi. I just have too much work to do, yoi. I am the First Division Commander after all, yoi.” Marco stammered, sending a glare at Izo and Thatch who were laughing in the background.

            Instantly the sniffling went away and Luffy smiled brightly at the man.

            “Alright, Pineapple, I understand.” Luffy said before going back to snuggling with Ace.

            “Those eyes are dangerous, yoi.” Marco muttered.

            “Yes, they are, I’ve seen the boy use them on his brothers to get some of their food. Which is astounding because that Ace boy, the black-haired one, eats as much as Luffy.” Thatch said.

            A pause hung in the air as they watched the two brothers whisper loving words to the boy who seemed to brighten up at each word.

            “They’re really close, yoi. Closer than most of our brothers, yoi.” Marco commented.

            “It’s actually surprising because according to them it’s only been like this since five-six days ago,” Thatch said.

            “What caused the drastic change, yoi?” Marco asked, curious.

            “They almost lost him and realized how much it’d affect their lives, but like I said earlier, it’s easier to explain it all to Pops.” Izo said.

            “Mmm, alright, yoi. Pops was the one who sent me to see if it was you guys anyways, yoi.” Marco said.

            Marco decided to stay on the ship until they reached the Moby Dick, wanting to see the three boys interact. From his perspective, it seemed like that the two older boys were really overprotective of the younger one. The little one seemed like a sweet boy, especially if those puppy dog eyes were anything to go by. Soon enough they reached the Moby Dick and a ladder was rolled down the side to let them up. Of course, Ace refused to let Luffy climb by himself, stating that Luffy himself had said he was still sore. So, Ace once again hoisted Luffy onto his back and started climbing after Thatch. After about two minutes or so, they were all on board. When they were, Ace finally let Luffy down but seeing all the people looking at them curiously he made sure that Luffy was close by his side, with Sabo on the other side of Luffy. Luffy however, was looking everywhere in awe. He had never been on a pirate ship before! Even when he was… tortured… by Porchemy he wasn’t on a ship. Bad memories, he quickly mentally waved them away so as to not lose his smile that his brothers seemed to love. _Brothers_. Oh Blue, how he loved that word. He had two big brothers now and he might have a lot more. But, Ace and Sabo would be his _special brothers_ , a bond only they would share.

            Shortly after, they were led to a relatively large chair, about six to seven feet in height Sabo estimated. Sitting in that chair was a large man, again estimating to be about twelve feet tall by Sabo. The man was wearing a black bandana over his head, wasn’t wearing a shirt but had a white coat with different tiny little things over his shoulders, and a pale yellowish pair of pants. However, what all three boys noticed, as it was obvious, was that the man was hooked up to several medical apparatuses. Despite that though, they could tell the man was still very strong. In a quick second, Luffy was suddenly climbing up the man’s pant leg and onto the man’s lap. That caused his two big brothers to panic, thinking that the large man would be mad at Luffy. Although, Sabo in the back of his mind knew that if Luffy had really felt those emotions from this man then he _should_ be safe. Ace however, because he wasn’t really the thinker of the group, just outright panicked. Their panic increased when their brother asked a question.

            “Woooow! You’re so big! Hey, do you poop?” Luffy asked.

            Marco, Thatch, Izo, and the two brothers blinked for a second before it was interrupted by Whitebeard’s laugh.

            “Gurarara! Of course I do little one.” The large man said, laughing.

            _They did not actually expect the man to answer._ That answer however, instantly sent waves of relief through the two brothers. If he didn’t get mad at that kind of question then he wouldn’t get mad at all at Luffy.

            “Nee, why are you so happy, joyful, prideful, and filled with love?” Luffy asked, curiously.

            He had personally never felt anyone who exuded that much love. Sure he had felt it from Makino once but it wasn’t a lot. And the love that he had felt from his brothers was a large amount but it was for one person. This kind of love felt like it was for a lot of people and it was all equal. _It just made him feel so warm._

            Whitebeard however raised a brow as he had heard this question before. So, to answer if his suspicions were right he turned to Thatch and Izo, his eyes asking a question.

            “Ah, he uh has insanely strong Observation Haki. He can _hear_ emotions.” Thatch answered.

            “Oh? If I remember… Roger had that too. Well, to answer your question little one, it’s because I love each and every one of my sons, my crew. They are my family and each one makes me proud as well. Each one makes me happy and filled with joy.” Whitebeard said.

            Luffy nodded solemnly, as if understanding the answer. While Ace and Sabo didn’t exactly believe it as Luffy wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box, Luffy actually did. Luffy felt the same way about Sabo and Ace. They made him happy and feel loved.

            “So… little one, I’m actually curious. Can you ‘hear’ anything from this ship?” Whitebeard asked, having wanted to ask Roger this question but never getting the chance to.

            Luffy’s face scrunched up in concentration as if he needed to focus. He really did though, because he had to sift through each voice he heard. But soon enough he found it and it made him smile.

            “It… no she feels happy. She almost has the amount of love you do… but you beat her by a tiny bit. But with her I can… hear words.” Luffy said.

            “Words?” Whitebeard asked.

            “Yeah, she’s… she’s saying that she wants to tell you something. She says… ‘ _Thank you for loving me all this time, thank you for having me as a part of your family right from the beginning, I will always protect you, my brothers and father_.’ Huh, she really loves you guys.” Luffy said, his voice suddenly taking on a feminine quality when he relayed the message before it turned back to normal after that.

            Thatch, Izo, and Marco seemed to have tears coming from their eyes as well as a few stray tears from Whitebeard. The man ruffled Luffy’s hair and gave him a smile.

            “Thank you little one. So, what are you three doing here?” Whitebeard said, turning to the three boys collectively.

            “That actually might better if I explain, first of all the one with the top hat is Sabo, the one who’s on your lap is Luffy, and the one with the freckles is Ace.” Izo said, stepping forward.

            Whitebeard gestured for Izo to continue.

            “Well, We were visiting a village on Dawn Island cause Thatch wanted to try the food there and see if he could get some inspiration. However, while he was on the ship and I was on my way back, I heard kids screaming for a doctor. When I found them they had the little one on Ace’s back.” Izo said.

            “What caused that to happen?” Whitebeard asked, curious as to how kids so young would end up covered in blood.

            That prompted Ace to be the one who explained.

            “Ah, I uh didn’t really like Luffy to begin with so I was mean to him a lot.” Ace said.

            “Mean? You tried to kill him multiple times.” Sabo snorted.

            “HEY! You didn’t do anything to stop me, but no that’s not why he was like that. Uh, he had ended up finding where we hid our treasure so we felt like we needed to kill him, but we didn’t know how. So, we just tied him up to a tree branch.” Ace said.

            Sabo was giving a half guilty look. The other half was saying that he felt it was all Ace’s idea, when he knew it wasn’t. Sabo had agreed that they needed to kill Luffy but, again they really didn’t know what it intended.

            “Anyways, uh. We had stolen treasure from pirates earlier and one of them was nearing us. So, we, uh, ran away leaving Lu tied up and he ended up getting tortured by the pirate. We then ran down the mountain with him after beating up said pirate, looking for a doctor.” Ace said, guilt returning to his face.

            Whitebeard just raised an eyebrow. Luffy however climbed down from the big man and tackled Ace and Sabo to the ground, hugging the both of them.

            “It’s okay, you don’t have to feel sad. Ace and Sabo are my brothers now! So I forgive you.” Luffy said, hugging them tightly.

            Ace and Sabo winced slightly before they smiled and hugged Luffy back. Thatch decided that he’d take over here and let the brothers have their moment.

            “So, Izo took them to the ship and started surgery on Luffy here. I took and bathed the other two, as they were covered in their little brother’s blood. After that I fed them, in which I found that Ace here is a black hole and later his little brother is too. Slowly over time I got attached to them, as did Izo.” Thatch said, Izo continuing from where he left off.

            “So, we asked them if they wanted to join the family.” Izo said.

            At this Luffy perked up, and started vibrating excitedly.

            “And we said yes! But uh I can’t join your crew, cause I hafta become Pirate King.” Luffy said.

            “Gurarara! And why’s that little one?” Whitebeard asked.

            Luffy clutched the straw hat on his head which drew Whitebeard’s and Marco’s attention to it.

            “Cause I promised Shanks I would! This hat’s proof of that promise!” Luffy said with a smile.

            “I wondered where I recognized that hat from, yoi. It was from that Shanks brat, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Brat? But Pineapple, you and Shanks look the same age.” Luffy said, confused.

            After all if they looked the same age they _had_ to be the same age. Of course everyone chuckled again at Luffy calling Marco a pineapple, though Whitebeard held it in.

            “Like I told you early, the name’s Marco, yoi. And I’m much older than the Shanks brat, yoi.” Marco said, his eye twitching.

            “It’s not going to work, he gives nicknames to people if he can’t understand their name. Trust me, he calls me Thatchy. The only one so far that he gets right is Izo’s.” Thatch said with a soft chuckle.

            “Gurarara! I like you kid. You’re welcome to join our family. You don’t have to join the crew if you want to.” Whitebeard said.

           Luffy shuffled his legs before looking up, seeming to want to ask another question. Whitebeard nodded, letting Luffy ask.

            “I just uh have one request. Can me and my brothers share a room… and maybe a bed?” Luffy asked, saying the last bit quickly.

            Ace and Sabo stared at Luffy a second before hugging him. Their brother wanted to stay near them and it made them happy.

            “That’s no problem at all. If you want Thatch here can show you a room near his.” Whitebeard said.

            Luffy immediately grabbed his brothers and yelled for ‘Thatchy’ to show them their room as they headed off, Thatch shaking his head and following, Izo as well. After they left Whitebeard spoke to Marco.

            “So, that’s the kid that Shanks lost his arm for. The one he’s betting on in the New Age. I can understand why now.” Whitebeard mused.

            “Normally I wouldn’t trust the Shanks-brat on anything, yoi. However, it looks like he got this one right, yoi. Though, did you see the Ace kid’s eyes, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Yes, I saw it too. There was a darkness in it, a sense of self-loathing. But, from what I can see it’s slowly healing thanks to little Luffy.” Whitebeard said.

            Marco smiled, thinking about the little kid. Despite the fact that the kid kept calling him pineapple, he was getting attached fast. He was so bright and happy, like a little ball of sunshine.

            “Yeah, I can see the amount of love that pours into those eyes when he looks at Luffy, yoi. But that Sabo kid seems like the smarter one of the two, his eyes had a sort of intelligence to them, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Your brothers are going to love them.” Whitebeard said.

            Marco couldn’t help but believe that as well.

            Thatch had managed to get ahead of the three and started leading them through the large ship. As he was doing this he was explaining the layout to the boys.

            “The first floor, the floor below the deck which is where we’re at. On this floor are the first four division’s barracks as well as Marco’s, Whitey Bay’s, Jozu’s, and my rooms as we are the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Division Commanders respectively. Also on this floor is the Mess Hall and Kitchen, since it makes it easier for me to access as I’m the head chef.” Thatch said.

            “Food!” Luffy shouted with a smile.

            Thatch chuckled and ruffled Luffy’s hair.

            “Not right now Luffy, it’s a bit early for dinner.” Thatch said.

            Luffy just pouted adorably at the man, he was really hungry damnit. But then again this was Luffy, he was hungry all the time.

            “Anyways, below this floor is the next four division’s barracks, whose leaders are named Vista, Blamenco, Rakyuo, and Namur. Just so you don’t freak out, Namur’s a fishman.” Thatch said.

            Sabo’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of one of the commanders being a fishman.

            “Can I meet him? I’ve never gotten to talk to a fishman before… All the books I’ve read about them seem to be biased.” Sabo asked eagerly, causing Thatch and Izo to chuckle.

            “I’m sure he’d be glad to talk to you, he doesn’t get many people like that, wanting to learn.” Thatch said.

            Sabo was really happy now to be on this ship. He’d get to meet an _actual fishman_.

            “Also on this floor is the infirmary, which is mine and my nurses’ domain. When you’re in there you listen to us got it? We know what’s best for your health.” Izo said, giving the three a look, causing the three to nod their heads quickly.

            “Yeah, you’ll want to listen to him, otherwise he’ll tie you to the bed. He’s done it to me before.” Thatch said, grimacing from remembering that memory.

            “I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t kept trying to escape. Despite the fact you were covered in injuries that _weren’t even healed yet_.” Izo said, glaring at Thatch.

            “Um, I have a question, why are most of the nurses here female?” Ace asked, as he had spotted mostly female nurses.

            That caused Izo and Thatch to laugh at that question. Which in turn caused Ace to blush and glare at the ground.

            “It’s not a bad question, it’s just there’s a funny story behind it. You see, whenever we try to recruit male nurses most of them fail the most important test.” Izo said.

            “Important test? What’s that?” Ace asked, no longer glaring at the ground.

            “Being able to say no to Pops about his sake when he can’t have it. With almost every male nurse we’ve tried to recruit Oyaji has managed to talk them into drinking with him. While almost every female nurse has been able to say no. The select few being someone like Whitey.” Thatch said.

            “Yeah, Whitey was first recruited as a nurse, despite the fact that she didn’t have any medical knowledge. The reason being that she had the talent of being able to pick up anything she wanted to learn. But when it came time to say no to Pops she instead pulled a bottle of rare sake out and poured a glass for them both before he even asked.” Izo said, laughing about it.

            The three brothers laughed at that too, as they had found it funny too.

            “On the third floor is, again, the next four division’s barracks, with Blenheim, Curiel, Kingdew, and Haruta as Division Commanders. You’ll actually probably like Haruta as he’s probably only four years older than Ace and Sabo and he’s a lot like Luffy… but more intelligent? I guess that’s the right word.” Thatch said.

            “So… Happy and goofy but smart. Alright.” Sabo said, nodding.

            Ace however, had something more to ask.

            “Why’s a fifteen year old a Commander?” Ace asked.

            “Oh, well he’s been with us since he was seven and he’s a really, _really_ good swordfighter. But yeah, he’s a nice kid. Loves to join me on my pranking sprees.” Thatch said smirking, probably thinking about a prank.

          “You touch my makeup, hair products, kimonos, or my hair itself I will castrate you without anesthetics.” Izo said, causing Thatch to flinch.

            “Uh.. heh, also on that floor is the training rooms.” Thatch said.

            The three boys seemed to perk up at the mention of the training rooms, however Izo gave Luffy a look.

            “You won’t be able to train for another week mister.” Izo said.

            “Aw, but I wanna train with my brothers!” Luffy pouted.

            Thankfully it was Luffy’s big brothers who took him in hand rather than it having to be Thatch or Izo.

            “But Luffy, if you open your wounds again we’d be very sad.” Sabo said, with Ace nodding solemnly.

            Luffy’s pout quickly vanished before he smiled and nodded before jumping on Sabo’s back, hugging him.

            “Alright, I don’t want Ace or Sabo to be sad. But when I’m allowed I want to train!” Luffy said.

            “We’ll help you train if you want, how does that sound?” Thatch asked.

            Luffy perked up even more, if that was even possible.

            “That be great!” Luffy said.

            Sabo the gestured for Thatch to continue explaining the layout of the ship, not wanting to get lost at all.

            “Ah right, on the fourth floor are the last four division’s barracks whose leaders are Atmos, Speed Jiru, Fossa, and Izo here respectively. On that floor is the laundry room. Lastly, below that floor is the cargo hold where we store the non-food items and our treasure.” Thatch said.

            The boys’ eyes lit up at the word treasure. Both Izo and Thatch noticed this which brought something to their minds.

            “That’s right you guys have your own treasure. That means we’ll have to make you your own spot. Normally you share a spot with your Division but do get to keep most of your treasure but since you guys aren’t tied to a division you get your own spot.” Thatch said.

            “How much do we have to share with everyone?” Ace asked, not really wanting to give away his treasure.

            “Ah, well actually, the part that we take is for food expenses. It’s like ten percent I believe? But we won’t take any of your current treasure.” Izo said.

            “Yeah, after all you earned it prior to joining us.” Thatch said with a smile.

            The three boys could understand that, well mostly Sabo and Ace. Luffy just knew it meant give money to get food. Sabo and Ace understood that since they were going to live on the ship and eating the ship’s food, it’d only be fair if they paid their share.

            “Although there is an exception to that rule.” Izo said.

            “What’s the exception?” Sabo asked really curious.

            “Devil Fruits. If you manage to find one, it’s yours to choose what to do with it. If you want to eat it go for it. If you want to sell it, you get to keep all the money. If you want to give it away, do so. Just, ah, don’t give it to a Marine.” Thatch said.

            Both Ace and Sabo seemed to be confused, whereas Luffy wasn’t.

            “You keep mentioning the word Devil Fruit but aren’t they myths?” Sabo asked.

            Surprisingly, it wasn’t Thatch and Izo who answered but Luffy.

            “Nope! Shanks had found one! He showed it to me. It looked really weird and rubbery. He called it the Gomu Gomu No Mi.” Luffy said.

            “I’m surprised you didn’t eat it.” Ace said.

            “I would have but Shanks said they taste really disgusting as a friend of his had eaten one. He said his friend had said it was like eating liquid ashes.” Luffy said, shuddering.

            The sound of that flavor made the others shudder as well and make Thatch give an offended look.

            “Blue, _liquid ash_? That’s… disgusting.” Ace said, grimacing again at the thought of what that would even taste like.

            “You know, I kinda feel bad for Marco now.” Thatch said.

            “Wait, pineapple ate a Devil Fruit?! What is it?! I bet it’s really cool!” Luffy said, eager to know, having forgotten earlier.

            “He’s actually never told us the name but you’ve seen it. He’s a phoenix.” Thatch said.

            Luffy tilted his head, a bit confused.

            “Pineapple’s a flaming chicken? But they’re two different things!” Luffy yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

            Thatch and Izo broke out into laughter with Thatch muttering the words ‘pineapple’ and ‘Flaming Chicken’. Ace and Sabo however just settled for snickers.

            “Ah, kid you’re wonderful.” Thatch said, wiping a tear away, causing Luffy to brightly smile at him.

            Soon enough though they reached the room that they were heading for. It was directly across a room that had a name tag on it that said ‘Thatch, Fourth Division Commander’. When Thatch opened the room the three boys were awed by it. The room was of course, not painted at all but it had a bed that was big enough for the three boys, a bookcase that was empty but free to be filled with books, a desk that could be used to write on, and a dresser where they could put their clothes. Immediately Ace ran to the bed and jumped on it, intent on laying in the nice soft bed.

            “Blue, is this amazing…. I’ve never slept in a bed before, well before being on that ship.” Ace said.

            Thatch had assumed that the kid would have slept in a bed before. He decided to voice that question.

            “What did you sleep on then?” He asked.

            “Um, well the floor really? Me and Sabo would sleep on the floor of our treehouse. I actually don’t know where Lu slept.” Ace mused.

            “I slept in a hammock I made. It wasn’t that comfortable, but I know what a bed feels like!” Luffy said.

            “Right… you lived with shitty gramps before Dadan right?” Ace asked.

            “Mhm, it wasn’t fun at all. He’d wake me up at random times. Once he woke me up at three in the morning.” Luffy said, pouting.

            The other two boys shuddered, knowing Garp’s way of waking people up with the Fist of Love. Sabo went to the bookshelf and frowned a bit.

            “Ah, if you’re wanting books, usually people buy their own. But I’m sure if you ask around people will have books they don’t want anymore. I’m sure I have a few novels I can give you.” Thatch said.

            “Make sure they’re age appropriate novels Thatch.” Izo said, narrowing his eyes.

            “Hey, I wouldn’t give the kid anything like that!” Thatch said, holding his hands up in surrender.

            “I’m just happy to have a room with my brothers.” Luffy said with a smile, and once again Ace and Sabo had to resist hugging their brother to death.

            “Alright, before me and Izo leave to get back to work I gotta explain something. You’ll be required to help with chores around the ship, nothing much just helping around where you can. It’d be rather impossible to assign a specific chore to everyone when there’s three hundred plus on the ship.” Thatch said.

            “We won’t have any problems with that. We’re used to having to do chores.” Sabo said, answering for the other two.

            With that Thatch and Izo left the boys in their room. Luffy pulled Sabo onto the bed with Ace and him where he curled up with the two boys. Ace and Sabo let him, wanting to be near their brother as well. Ace looked around and listened before speaking up.

            “So.. uh Lu.. What would you say to the child of Gol D. Rogers?” Ace said, bracing himself for the inevitable pain.

            Luffy repositioned himself so that he was sitting on Ace’s stomach and looking him straight in the eyes.

            “I think they’d be really awesome for that!” Luffy said, smiling when Ace’s eyes widened.

            “Wha-“ Ace said, confused.

            “Ace, this is Lu you’re talking about. He practically worships the title of Pirate King.” Sabo said.

            “B-but don’t you think that I shouldn’t live?! I’m the child of Gol D. Rogers!” Ace said, holding back the tears.

            Luffy snuggled against Ace’s chest before speaking.

            “Is this why Ace was so sad when I met Ace? Ace shouldn’t feel like he shouldn’t live. I’m happy that Ace is alive because it means I have a big brother. Ace is Ace and Rogers is Rogers. Blood doesn’t matter.” Luffy said.

            “…” Ace was currently speechless, he really didn’t expect the answer that had just come from Luffy.

            Sabo however, had just realized something from what Luffy had said. And it started to make something else that was on his mind make sense.

            “Lu… you also tried becoming our friends because you wanted to make Ace happy, didn’t you?” Sabo asked.

            Luffy nodded happily before returning to Ace’s chest and speaking.

            “Ace was really sad. I hadn’t ever felt that kind of sadness before. It was so… dark and lonely. So, I wanted to make Ace smile! Sabo felt sad too but… it wasn’t as sad as Ace was. Sabo was swimming where Ace was drowning.” Luffy mumbled against Ace’s chest.

            Suddenly Ace choked out a sob before hugging Luffy tight and burying his face into Luffy’s hair. What Luffy said made him both really happy and feel really guilty. Precious little Luffy had only wanted to become friends just to make Ace happy. Luffy made it sound like his loneliness was only an afterthought.

            “I really love you Lu.” Ace said into Luffy’s hair.

            Sabo then decided to join the hug too because what Luffy said had affected him as well. So it was about an hour and a half later that Thatch found them all huddled together, asleep, with Ace and Sabo holding Luffy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please review if you can! I really hope you enjoyed the fluff and yeah if you do see familiarity from Lu’s ability I got the idea from half of Lu’s and Roger’s ability to “Hear the Voice of All Things” and another story where Luffy could sense emotions. This is something that I’m planning to use to get a rather painful thorn in my ass out of the story. Anyways! Have a wonderful day or night or evening or even sleep. I don’t know what time you people read these things.


	3. Happy Birthday Luffy: Ace and Sabo Plan A Party... er at least they try to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 3! This chapter covers Luffy’s birthday so I hope you guys enjoy it! So, apparently I ended up making this a SaboAce story when I was establishing Luffy’s like for Law in one of the later chapters. I did this because someone was concerned about the MarcoAce pairing which really was only tentative unless I got a different idea. And I did. Anyways, since I answered this in the comments on Ao3 (If you Ao3’ers are confused, my beginning AN are the same both ways) but someone wanted to know if Luffy meets Law before Sabaody and that’s a yes. Luffy meets Law when Lu’s around like 10 and Law’s 17. Nothing sexual happens between them till Lu’s either sixteen or seventeen. Anywho onwards to the story!

Their first few weeks was filled with a lot of different people. The first person Thatch had introduced to them was Haruta, the Twelfth Division Commander. Haruta was really interested in meeting his new brothers so he had decided to be the first person Thatch introduced. He practically forced the man to introduce him to them. Haruta’s first impression of the kids was different for each of them. Ace, Haruta felt, didn’t give out his trust easily which was kind of proved by the kid’s soft glare at anyone who came near the brothers. Of course, those glares didn’t land upon Pops, Thatch, Izo, and Marco. Pops, Thatch, and Izo Haruta could understand. But Marco? Maybe it had to do with the fact that the smaller kid, Luffy, kept calling him pineapple and that said man was protective of Luffy as well. But nevertheless he felt like he could end up liking the kid. Now Luffy, he really liked. The boy, while not extremely smart, was very emotionally aware. Also, the kid was always smiling and laughing and willing to listen to stories. Sabo, he liked but not as much as Luffy. That was only because Sabo loved books and Haruta wasn’t that much of a book person.

            The second person that was introduced to the trio was Namur, partially because of Sabo’s interest in meeting the fishman. At first Namur was a little wary of the kids but promptly warmed up to them. Especially Sabo who was nice to talk to because the kid offered fresh opinions on things and was always available for an intelligent conversation. The third person was Whitey Bay, which to be honest was actually on accident. The situation involved Luffy accidentally falling over the side of the ship. Whitey grabbed a loose rope that was tied to the mast and jumped, swinging off the side of the ship. She then grabbed Luffy and completed a full swing, landing on the deck with Luffy safe in hands. That caused her to instantly gain the trust of Ace and Sabo and the admiration of Luffy. To Luffy Whitey was ‘extremely cool and amazing’ because she could do things like swing from ropes and save people. Whitey really liked the kid and had offered to teach him how to do it if he wanted to learn. It was safe to say that Luffy agreed one hundred percent. In fact, proof that Luffy actually really liked her was that he said her name correctly.

            It was then that people found out, including Ace and Sabo, that the only people that Luffy correctly said the name of was people who saved him or had done something that deserved his admiration. Ace and Sabo had earned that right by being his brothers, Izo by saving his life, and Whitey by saving his life and being really cool. Haruta had tried protesting saying that he was really cool too but Luffy’s response was ‘ _Haru’s not as cool as Whitey.’_. That resulted in Haruta being depressed in a corner and the crew laughing at him while Whitey looked proud of Luffy. But basically, the weeks went on like that with different people meeting the trio. One thing that was agreed upon by all the crew that had met them, they all liked the trio.

            It was the Fourth of May and the Moby Dick was docked at an island that had a town filled with shops in the Grand Line. It was on this day that Ace and Sabo were in a panic, thankful that Luffy was spending time with Marco, who had reluctantly agreed to let him ride on his back. It was this panic that Thatch and Haruta had noticed.

            “Yo, what’s the matter with you two? Missing your brother?” Haruta asked, leaning against the wall by the two.

            “No, but the problem relates to him.” Sabo said, watching as Ace was wringing his hands.

            “What’s the problem?” Thatch asked.

            Ace and Sabo looked at each other, wondering if they should talk about it before nodding. It was for their brother after all.

            “It’s Luffy’s birthday tomorrow.” Ace said, as if that would explain everything.

            Thatch and Haruta looked at them in shock, although not for the reason that Ace was hoping.

            “Why didn’t the little guy tell us?!” Thatch asked, hurt.

            “Ace you really need to fully explain something so people can understand the full story.” Sabo said.

            Sabo then sighed and gestured for the two to sit down next to them. It was then that Haruta and Thatch noticed the different pieces of paper in front of the two brothers.

            “You see, Luffy feels as if his birthday shouldn’t be celebrated.” Sabo said.

            “Why?!” Haruta yelled, interrupting Sabo, causing him to facepalm.

            “If you’d let me finish, it’s because his birthday, tomorrow, is Children’s Day. The day when _all_ children are celebrated. He feels as if it wouldn’t be nice of him to take the day away from other kids.” Sabo said.

            “Oh.” Haruta said, blushing at his quick temper.

            Personally, Ace and Sabo were against Luffy’s reluctance to celebrate his birthday. Sure, Ace didn’t like celebrating his birthday but his was a selfish reason. Luffy’s was a selfless one which made it an even bigger reason to celebrate it. Because it made Ace realize that Luffy cared more for others than himself which made Ace feel bad and promise to smother his brother with more love. Sabo however didn’t exactly mind celebrating his birthday as long as it wasn’t a giant party. This was because gigantic parties filled with balls, impersonal presents, and people you didn’t know was the way of the nobles. So he really wanted to celebrate his little brother’s birthday. But the two of them were at the ends of their ropes trying to single-handedly prepare a surprise birthday party. It was this that Ace explained next.

            “We’ve been trying to prepare a surprise birthday party for him but, it’s too much planning for the two of us. We haven’t even been able to get him gifts which we planned to get using our treasure.” Ace said, once again wringing his hands.

            “Ah, why don’t enlist the rest of the crew to help? I mean, Izo could do the decorations, I could do the food and cake, and Haruta could let everyone know secretly about the party.” Thatch said, Haruta nodding along to it.

            “We’d need someone to keep an eye on Luffy, especially so that we could get our gifts.” Sabo said.

            “I’m sure Marco could, I mean he’s already doing it right?” Haruta asked.

            “Yeah, but that was about an hour ago. He’s bound to be exhausted with flying Luffy around by now.” Ace said, about to wring his hands but Sabo promptly slapped them.

            “Stop that, you’re stressed enough as it is.” Sabo said sternly.

            “B-but it needs to be perfect! Everything has to be perfect for our little brother.” Ace said.

            “Bro-con.” Thatch coughed, causing Ace to get pissed.

            “Why you! I’m not a bro-con!” Ace yelled before slumping and attempting to wring his hands once more but yet again Sabo stopped him.

            Seeing that Sabo was right and Ace was really stressed right now Thatch decided to speak up.

            “I’ll talk Marco into keeping an eye on Luffy for a bit longer while you guys get your gifts for him.” Thatch said.

            Sabo let out a relieved sigh before picking up the pieces of paper and handing them to Thatch. Thatch looked questioningly at Sabo, as if asking what they were for.

            “They’re our ideas for the party, all we could really agree on was the cake and food. We weren’t sure if there should be a theme.” Sabo said.

            “That’s cause the only theme we could think of was pirates but that’d be rather pointless.” Ace murmured.

            It was true, they were living with the Whitebeard _Pirates_. So the theme itself was redundant because there was no way for it to be more ‘pirate-y’ unless they broke out the stereotypes. Which would cause Luffy to not be amused because for some reason Luffy hated those stereotypes. Personally, Ace blamed Shanks because the man had to have had something to do with that hatred. From what he heard from Luffy’s stories the man wasn’t your typical pirate.

            “Alright then, we’ll see about getting everything together. You two go and get your presents.” Thatch said, rolling up the paper.

            Ace, sighing a sigh of relief, got up with Sabo and made their way to the cargo hold. There they grabbed a few bundles of Belly from their treasure chest as well as a few gems they had stolen from the royalty of Goa Kingdom, not knowing how much they’d need. They then made their way into town where the large amount of shops were located. They were looking around trying to find a place to start at when Sabo spotted a paper shop and wandered in, Ace curiously following after.

            “Why are we in a paper store?” Ace asked, not really knowing why.

            “I remember reading about something a while ago…” Sabo said before wandering up to the counter.

            At the counter was a middle aged woman wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans. She looked at the boys curiously, wondering why they were here.

            “Whatchya kids in here for? You don’t look like the type to need a large amount of paper.” She said.

            “Ah, do you have Vivre Cards?” Sabo asked.

            The woman was rather shocked at that question. Most people who hadn’t been to the New World or at the very least Sabaody didn’t know about Vivre Cards. Yet a kid probably no older than eleven knew about them.

            “Sabo, what’s a Vivre Card and why are we here for one for Luffy?” Ace asked, feeling out of the conversation.

            “Kid, a Vivre Card is a piece of paper created with special bark from the New World and a fingernail from the person whose life force you want tied to the paper. You then rip off pieces and give them to people. The pieces will always float towards each other, letting you know where the people are. It also lets you know of the state of the person that the Vivre Card is tied to. If they’re slowly dying it starts to burn up.” The woman explained.

            Suddenly Ace knew exactly why they were in here. It’d be a wonderful gift for Luffy, for him to be able to know where his brothers were even when he departed for his adventure. As well as letting the brothers know where Luffy was.

            “Mhm how much would it be for two full sheets?” Sabo asked.

            “Hmm, if it was a few months ago, I’d say seven million Belly.” She said, shocking Sabo as they did not have that much Belly.

            At the start of Sabo’s protest the woman held up a hand.

            “I said if it was a few months ago. There was an extreme shortage on the bark required to make the paper. But recently they discovered a large tree that seems to infinitely regenerate its bark due to its location, so the price dropped big time. It’s fifty thousand Belly a piece now.” She said.

            Sabo and Ace breathed a sigh of relief. They had brought two hundred thousand Belly with them, not really understanding pricing. So, they’d have one hundred thousand left over to buy Luffy other presents, because Luffy deserved to be spoiled. So Sabo handed over the hundred thousand Belly she needed. The woman then produced a pair of nail clippers and gestured for them to hold out a hand. They did so and the woman clipped off a finger nail from each of them.

            “Alright, come back in an hour and it should be done.” The woman said.

            The two boys nodded and made their way out of the store to spend their free time before they needed to get their Vivre Cards. They then started to look around for other places to buy other presents for Luffy. Sabo ended up finding a Jewelry Shop where he got a silver locket and had it engraved with ‘ _ASL Forever’_ on the back for thirty-five thousand Belly. He told Ace that they’d get a picture for it later. Ace however found a Weapons Shop where he somehow found a pipe for Luffy to start learning to fight with. He got it and had it engraved with the words ‘ _Never Lonely’_ across the middle section for forty thousand Belly. Sabo wanted to know why Ace had it engraved with that but Ace blushed and said he’d explain it later when Luffy unwraps it. With their left-over money, they bought a joke gift for Luffy, a book on beginner’s physics because Luffy seemed to think physics didn’t apply to him. Like for example, the time he jumped off the crow’s nest thinking he was going to land on the mast but instead fell short, requiring Marco to save him.

            Thankfully by the time that they finished buying everything it had been an hour so they made their way back to the Paper Shop. There the woman presented them with two pure white sheets of paper that seemed to radiate energy.

            “Here you go, two Vivre Cards. One attached to each of you. Hope your little brother enjoys the gift.” The woman said, shocking the two.

            “How did you know it was for our little brother.” Ace asked, a bit suspicious, causing the woman to laugh.

            “Oh enough with that. You mentioned a Luffy earlier and nine times out of ten the people who are buying Vivre Cards are getting them for their younger siblings or someone similar.” She said.

            “How do you know that we’re not the one time out of ten?” Ace asked.

            “Are you?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “No.” Ace muttered, blushing.

            Sabo quickly dragged Ace out of the store before he could embarrass himself even further. The woman thanked them for their business as they left. They then made their way back to the ship, hiding their gifts in their bags. Thankfully when they got on the ship Luffy was nowhere in sight so the boys quickly made their ways to the kitchen where they expected Thatch to be. Lo and behold Thatch was in the kitchen with his assistants seemingly preparing the cake for tomorrow. The man let his assistants continue as he walked over to the two.

            “Did you get your gifts?” Thatch asked.

            “Yeah but we need stuff to wrap it in.” Ace said.

            “Hmm, we’ll need a long rectangular box, two medium sized rectangular boxes, a small box, and uh a roll of wrapping paper.” Sabo said, thinking about the gifts they got him.

            Thatch seemed to think for a second before speaking.

            “Hm, then you’ll need to go see Izo. He’ll more than likely have the items you’re looking for. He has a surplus after his shopping spree from last Christmas.” Thatch said.

            The two boys thanked him and made their way to the infirmary to check for Izo. On the door to the infirmary was a note telling them if they needed him he’d be in his room. So, they made their way to Izo’s room on the fourth subfloor of the ship. They knocked on the door and were told to come in. Izo was there at his desk working on a large banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Luffy!’. It was in really nice handwriting and the designs that Izo was working on were really cool. The crossdresser looked up and smiled when he saw them.

            “So, I’m assuming you got your gifts for the birthday boy?” Izo asked, the boys nodding.

            “We’re here for some items so we can wrap them.” Ace said before repeating what Sabo said they needed.

            “Mhm, I should have all that, how long do you need the long rectangular box, and how long and wide do you need the medium boxes?” Izo asked.

            Sabo gave the man the size that the Vivre Cards were for the medium boxes, not telling the man what exactly they were wrapping. Ace then gave the man the length of the pipe for the long rectangular box. Izo then gave them the boxes, a roll of wrapping paper that was sea blue and had tiny ships all over it, as well as a thing of tape.

            “Can’t forget the tape.” Izo said.

            They nodded and then let Izo get back to his work and made their way back to their room. Once again they seemed to be really lucky as Luffy wasn’t in the room. They were guessing that Thatch kept good on his promise and managed to convince Marco to keep an eye on Luffy. Not knowing how long it’d last before Luffy would be upon them they quickly got to work wrapping all the presents. When they were done, they figured they needed a place to hide them. That’s when the door opened and they panicked thinking it was Luffy, hiding the boxes behind their bodies. They let out a sigh of relief when they saw that it was Haruta.

            “Yo, what are you two doing?” He asked, curious as to why they were hiding stuff behind them.

            “We thought you were Luffy.” Ace said.

            “Ah, do you need a place to hide those?” Haruta asked.

            “Yes, please. We don’t want Luffy to chance upon these by accident.” Sabo begged.

            “Alright, we actually have a hiding place already, there were a few people who wanted to get Luffy some gifts, like Whitey, Marco, Namur, and Thatch.” Haruta said.

            “How did Marco get a gift already? Wasn’t he with Luffy the entire time?” Ace asked.

            “He let Pops watch over him for about thirty minutes so he could quickly get a gift. Now follow me.” Haruta said.

            They followed Haruta and it seemed like the location wasn’t up or down the stairs as they had just passed the staircase. No, they stopped in front of a door to a room that had a nametag that read ‘Whitey Bay’.

            “Why are we in front of Whitey’s room?” Ace asked, confused.

            “You’ll see.” Haruta said before knocking.

            The door opened to reveal Whitey who was in her casual clothes, which consisted of a pair of jeans and a Criminal brand t-shirt, which signified that she had given herself a day off for paperwork.

            “Hey, cool, more presents for the kid?” She asked, leaning against the door.

            “Yup.” Haruta said.

            “Cool, follow me.” She said, gesturing for them to come into the room.

            Whitey picked up a golden key that had a snowflake design at the end. She then walked over to a portion of the wall that seemed to have a crack in it. She inserted the key and twisted it, making a ‘click’ sound as it sounded like tumblers were moving. A large portion of the wall moved aside to reveal an open storage space that had a pile of gifts in it. Further in the back Ace could see a large quantity of bottles of sake, rum, wine, and various other kinds of alcohol.

            “This is my hidden alcohol storage. Only a few people know about it, like Marco, Pops, Thatch, Namur, and Haruta here. It can only be opened with this key right here.” She said, holding up the key.

            “Why are you telling us this?” Sabo asked, curious.

            Both boys were really shocked at the amount of alcohol this woman had, it was enough alcohol that Whitebeard could drink it and it wouldn’t run out for two months.

            “Because I know you guys aren’t that fond of alcohol right now. Thatch told me about your little Sakazuki ritual and how you didn’t like the sake.” She said, flipping the key in her hand, chuckling when she saw the two boys blush.

            “How do you know it wasn’t just the sake we didn’t like.” Ace countered.

            That caused the woman to outright laugh and smile at them.

            “Because, the sake Thatch gave you was the weakest kind he had. If you couldn’t handle the burn from that you’re not going to be able to handle the burn from any of my alcohol. I like the strong stuff.” She said.

            Instantly the boys grimaced, thinking of how much worse that burn could be. Yeah, they weren’t going to try and break into Whitey’s alcohol storage.

            “Alright, now shoo, go have fun with your brother. I think this is the longest I’ve seen you three apart” Whitey said, making a gesture with her hands.

            Ace and Sabo nodded and ran off to find Luffy, not noticing Whitey’s wistful smile at the boys. It didn’t take long for them to find Marco and Luffy as they were in the Mess Hall. What they didn’t expect was Marco and Luffy to be there with Namur, Jozu, and Vista playing poker. What they also didn’t expect was…

            “Are you all losing to _Luffy?_ ” Ace asked, eyes wide.

            Sure enough there was a very large pile of Belly in front of their little brother while the others had very little amounts to themselves. The other men turned and nodded solemnly at the two.

            “How?!?!” Ace asked, granted he had never played games with Luffy before.

            “Your brother has the luck of the devil. Seriously, he’s already pulled of _two freaking royal flushes._ ” Vista said as he pushed the rest of his money into the middle.

            “Are you sure he’s not cheating?” Sabo asked, as it was a valid question since royal flushes _were_ very difficult to get

            “Very sure, we checked him on the second one and he had nothing that would indicate he was cheating.” Namur said as he did the same as Vista.

            “Sabo, don’t forget that Luffy sucks at lying.” Ace said.

            “Oh yeah, I forgot that whenever he lies he looks away and whistles innocently.” Sabo said, wondering how he forgot that.

            Marco pushed the rest of his money in before speaking.

            “Well, he hasn’t done any of that while we were playing.” Marco said.

            “Nope, it’s been all smiles and laughs the whole time.” Jozu said before pushing his in as well.

            “Call.” Luffy hummed.

            Marco flipped over the cards and then everyone showed their cards.

            “Shishishi! Royal Flush!” Luffy said, showing them his cards.

            Everyone at the table groaned and pushed the money in the middle towards Luffy’s pile. Luffy then turned to Ace and Sabo and smiled at them, waving his hands towards the pile.

            “Ace, Sabo look I just won two hundred and fifty thousand Belly!” Luffy said with his big smile.

            Sabo and Ace looked at each other before nodding and speaking.

            “We are never gambling with him.” Ace said.

            “Never.” Sabo agreed.

            Soon enough though Thatch began to serve dinner to everyone. Once more Luffy and Ace ate a lot, although Izo was working with Thatch on creating high caloric foods full of energy for the boys so as to lower the amount they eat. After that they helped Luffy get his large amount of Belly to their treasure chest in the cargo hold and then made their way back to their room where they promptly fell asleep in each other’s arms.

            The next morning Luffy was very confused. A lot of the crew members were whispering and smiling at him as if they knew something he didn’t. Normally he would be mad about that but each person had a primary emotion in common, excitement. It was rather safe to say that the emotion ended up rubbing off on him to where he was excited now. Of course, he was once again confused when people kept sharing their food with him at breakfast, not that he wasn’t pleased about it. Everyone was just acting _weird_ today. Well, everyone but his brothers. They were just loving him like they normally did, with hugs and allowing him to snuggle up to them. It was when Pineapple allowed him and his brothers to go off into the jungle on the island that alarms went off in Luffy’s head. Pineapple never let them do something ‘dangerous’ like that. Though, Marco did tell Ace and Sabo to protect him. Pfft, he wasn’t weak! He could take down tigers and bears. Sure he had problems with crocodiles but hey, they had large mouths! Although to be honest Ace and Sabo weren’t exactly sure as to why Luffy was able to kick and punch as hard as he was able to. Little did they and Luffy know that Luffy was unconsciously using Armament Haki due to his repeated encounters with Garp’s Fist of Love, which was a fist covered in that kind of Haki. So he and his brothers hunted down a few tigers until it was about two o’clock in which the brothers dragged Luffy, and their defeated prey, off to the Moby Dick.

            Luffy was really, _really_ confused when he felt everyone’s presence in the Mess Hall. So, he just went along with his brothers and followed them to the Mess Hall. What Luffy wasn’t expecting was for everyone to shout ‘Surprise!’ and ‘Happy Birthday Luffy!’ when he entered the room. His eyes started to water when he saw the large banner hanging from the ceiling that read ‘Happy Birthday Luffy!’ and had little miniature versions of him, his brothers, and the Whitebeard Pirates that Luffy was familiar with. Luffy turned to Sabo and Ace and hugged them tightly thanking them.

            “Hey, how do you even know that we planned it? I mean we did but everyone helped put it together.” Ace said.

            “Ace is silly. Ace forgets that he talks in his sleep. Ace mentioned being sad about me not celebrating my birthday. Also, I can feel the pride from Ace and Sabo.” Luffy said, tacking the last part as an afterthought.

            “Oh.” Ace said, shocked a bit.

            “Let’s get this party started!” Thatch shouted, with everyone else shouting their agreement.

            The party started out with the food, which as usual tasted amazing. The food that Thatch had prepared was various dishes made with different kinds of meat from regular beef to lamb to crocodile to even Sea King meat. Luffy’s favorite meat was a tie between crocodile and Sea King now because Luffy had never had Sea King before. Then it was time for presents. Ace and Sabo handed Luffy their presents to him first, starting with the joke present. When Luffy unwrapped it and saw the physics book everyone laughed with a smile around him. However, Luffy opened it and found that he could actually understand the book relatively easy and said something that shocked everyone.

            “I like it.” Luffy said, reading a part that talked about something called gravity.

            There was a period of silence before Ace and Sabo sputtered in disbelief.

            “Wait, you can actually understand it?” Ace asked.

            “Yep! It’s real cool! Especially this gravity stuff.” Luffy said.

            “Did we just discover that Luffy’s a physics prodigy?” Sabo asked Ace.

            “Yes. Yes we did. I mean he has to be good at _something_. So I guess his something is physics.” Ace said, dumbfounded as well.

            Sabo then handed him the small box and said it was from him. Luffy opened it and was astounded at the locket and got teary eyed at the engraving at the back. He then promptly hugged Sabo tightly.

            “We’ll get a picture for it later.” Sabo said after Luffy let go and decided to show the locket to everyone and then put it on.

            Ace then handed Luffy the long box which Luffy promptly opened it and was confused when he saw a pipe.

            “It’s so you can start training with us, as you know that me and Sabo have our own.” Ace said.

            “Why does it say Never Alone?” Luffy asked, curiously, causing the blush from earlier to reappear.

            “Ah, uh, it’s so that whenever you fight with that, even if we’re not there, we’re still there with you, fighting.” Ace said, blushing even harder when Luffy got teary eyed again, hugged him, and everyone awww’ed him.

            Ace and Sabo then each handed him one of the medium boxes.

            “This gift is the same thing but, it’s special.” Sabo said.

            Luffy opened both and was confused when he saw two pure white sheets of paper. Everyone else was gaping at them instead.

            “Why is it paper?” Luffy asked.

            “It’s a Vivre Card. We tear of a piece and give it to each other. They’ll float towards the larger piece and let you know whether or not we’re.. uh dying.” Ace said.

            “And it’s pretty damn expensive, last I checked it was seven million Belly. How did you two afford them?” Thatch asked.

            “Ah, the lady said that they went down big time because somebody found a self-regenerating tree with the bark and that it was like that because of where it was.” Sabo said.

            “Oh, they must be talking about the new island they found in the New World, called it Regeneration Island, yoi. Any plants or trees there will instantly grow back the moment something’s removed from them, yoi.” Marco said.

            Ace and Sabo then tore a strip one fifth the size of the paper and then ripped the strip in half. They then gave a piece to their other brothers so that they each held a piece while the original would hold the larger paper.

            “I love it, this means I can always know where Ace and Sabo are if they aren’t on the ship.” Luffy said, taking the papers and his straw hat and then giving them to Marco who sighed.

            Marco fiddled with the ribbon and papers so that they would stay there safely without the wind blowing them away. Luffy took his hat back with a smile and put it back on. The next few gifts went by in a blur. Whitey’s gift was a large pouch and a grappling hook tied to rope that could fit in the pouch. She promised to teach him how to use it.

            “After all, you never know when you’ll need a grappling hook and it can be used as an improv weapon.” She said with a smile.

            She then explained that the rope was a special rope that was made from fibers that made it near impossible to cut. The next gift was from Thatch which turned out to be a blue phoenix that caused Marco to glare at the man.

            “Look Pineapple! It’s you!” Luffy said, showing the man phoenix.

            Marco briefly gave Luffy a smile before returning his gaze to Thatch to glare at him. The gift after that was from Namur which turned out to be a set of Criminal brand clothing with shirts that had the Whitebeard Jolly Roger on the back as well as a really cool design on the front, and some jeans, as well as a one hundred thousand Belly certificate to any Criminal brand store for any future purchases. Everyone chuckled when Namur blushed from Luffy hugging him and thanking him for the ‘really awesome shirts’. The next present was from Marco which was a handwritten book on information about Gol D. Roger. Ace refused to glare at the present because it’d make his little brother sad. However, everyone but Whitey was confused when there was a gift left that said “From: Your Father” on it.

            “Ah, I had gotten that gift from a Coco News delivery bird late last night.” Whitey said, Luffy recognizing the box.

            “Hey that’s the box you asked if I got any bad feelings from.” Luffy said.

            “Mhm, I had Luffy briefly look at the box and use his ability to tell if it was malicious. I didn’t want to open it otherwise and it turn out to not be and ruin the surprise.” Whitey said.

            “But, I’m confused. I don’t know who my father is. Why would he be giving me a present?” Luffy asked.

            Ace then told him to open it to find out. When Luffy did inside was a Vivre Card like the one that Ace and Sabo had given him but this one was a full sheet rather than the torn piece that Luffy ended up getting. Inside on the top though was a letter that Luffy read out loud.

_Dear Luffy,_

_I know I haven’t exactly been the best father but circumstances required you to be raised outside of my care. Nevertheless I love you very much and hope that we can one day meet. Inside is a Vivre Card, which I know you probably know of because of your brothers’ gifts. If you’re wondering how I know, one of my people was visiting the island you guys were docked at yesterday and told me. But anyways, you’ve probably only been explained to what happens if there’s only one sheet of Vivre Card. Well, I have another Vivre Card of mine with me right now and in the case of two sheets of Vivre Card to the same person the smaller pieces will lead to the biggest piece. So, if there’s anyone you want to protect give them a piece of that Card and let them know it’ll lead them to safety. But please, always keep one for yourself._

_Love,_

_Your Father,_

_Monkey D. Dragon._

Everyone but Ace and Luffy were shocked at the revelation of who Luffy’s father was. Ace, being confused, decided to voice his confusion.

            “Who’s Monkey D. Dragon, and why are you guys shocked?” Ace asked.

            It was Whitebeard who decided to answer.

            “Monkey D. Dragon is known to the world as the Revolutionary Dragon and the Leader of the Revolutionary Army as well as the World’s Most Dangerous Criminal. It’d be best if this didn’t get out because if the World Government learned of it they’d be after his head, no matter how young he is.” Whitebeard said.

           Everyone gave a solemn look but Luffy. Luffy just ripped off two piece and gave one each to his brothers. Then Luffy smiled, because this was his best birthday ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As usual I like to know suggestions in the comments or reviews! Just because I’ve already wrote a chapter doesn’t mean I can’t change some things. Speaking of that, so far To Save a Brother’s Life has uh 8 chapters I think? It’s either that or 9 or that number 9 is in progress. Death’s Gift has fifteen so far and I’m on Water 7! Oh yeah, for those that do read Death’s Gift, I’m skipping the stupidity, in my opinion, that is Foxy. They’ll still be at Long Ring Island but only for the confrontation with Kuzan.


	4. Smothering Darkness that Comforts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are getting this chapter early because I couldn’t wait any longer. Because this is the chapter where Luffy gets his Devil Fruit. By the first few sentences you should know exactly what it is but before you say anything, when Luffy eats his fruit and there is an in depth, non-canon explanation and change/more like add of powers to the fruit. The explanation of the Fruit+ other fruits is important for later down the road. I will explain more at the post-story end note. Anyways enjoy the chapter!!

            If there was one person on the Whitebeard crew that Luffy did not like at all it would be Marshal D. Teach. According to Thatch, Teach, was on the ship when they had first arrived but left for a mission shortly after, so Luffy had never had an opportunity to really learn the man’s presence. But when he returned about two months after Luffy’s birthday all Luffy could feel was darkness and an emotion he _did not_ recognize at all. It felt like an ever-encompassing dark feeling but Luffy couldn’t place it at all. However, Luffy did not want to voice his concerns because he remembered Shanks had told him that an accusation against a crew member is serious and he didn’t want his new family to not like him. Of course, he did tell his big brothers, as they didn’t exactly fall under the term crew.

            “I don’t like that Teach guy.” Luffy said out of nowhere, when they were in their room, on the bed.

            “Wha?” Ace started, really confused.

            It was really rare for Luffy to not like someone, so something like this required his and Sabo’s attention.

            “Luffy tell us exactly _why_ you don’t like Teach.” Sabo said.

            Luffy looked at the floor, shuffling his feet, before he decided to answer.

            “He… he doesn’t feel right. He gives off darkness… suffocating darkness, not the nice kind.” Luffy said.

            “There’s a good kind?” Ace asked jokingly.

            Sabo quickly punched Ace on the head, telling it wasn’t time for jokes. But surprisingly to both of them, Luffy actually answered.

            “Yeah! There’s the darkness that’s comforting and protects you in the night. It hides you when you need hiding. Especially from people like gramps!” Luffy said, with a smile.

            Of course, that caused the two brothers to smile at him, cause what he said was kinda adorable. But Sabo decided they needed to return to the original topic.

            “Lu, are you feeling this with your Haki?” Sabo asked.

            Luffy nodded solemnly before he buried his face into Ace’s chest.

            “Lu, can you tell what emotion you’re feeling?” Ace asked, rubbing his little brother’s back, soothingly.

            “I don’t know at all… I’ve never felt this before. It’s making be frustrated and scared.” Luffy whimpered.

            “Why haven’t you told Marco, Thatch, or even Izo?” Sabo asked.

            “Because, Shanks said accusations against a fellow crew member are serious and there might not be people who believe me.” Luffy mumbled.

            Accusations like that would be pretty serious, Ace and Sabo thought. But also to be honest, what would Luffy do, sure Marco, Thatch, Whitey, Izo, and Whitebeard knew about Luffy’s Observation Haki. But everyone else thought it was instinct and instinct can be wrong. What would he say, ‘Hey, I think one of your crewmates is pretty evil.’ No, it wouldn’t work at all. So the two boys vowed to keep an eye on Teach. They then decided to do something to get their little brother’s attention of the man.

            “Hey Lu, do you want to start training with us today?” Ace asked, smiling when Luffy instantly perked up.

            They would have started on Lu’s birthday but when Izo saw what they trained with they told him that he thought they meant training via hand to hand. With weapons Luffy had to wait about two more months because weapons were more likely to reopen the wounds. Now though, all Luffy’s wounds were completely sealed and would only reopen via sharp objects. So, the trio grabbed their pipes and made their way to the floor that held the training rooms. Thankfully they managed to find an empty room as the rooms are usually all taken by the swordsmen in the crew. Ace and Sabo decided to spar first, to show their little brother what to expect.

            Sabo and Ace were across from each other, pipe in hand, while Luffy was excitedly sitting on the side watching his brothers. The two boys seemed to move around in a circle, not attacking. It wasn’t until Ace charged forward that the battle began. Because the two were very aware of how each other fought it was extremely easy for them to block each other’s attacks. All you could hear from the room was the sounds of child-like grunts and the sounds of metal hitting metal. Sabo however, seemed to be getting tired of the fight getting nowhere as he dropped into a crouch and swung his pipe at Ace’s feet. Ace quickly jumped, dodging the pipe. However, what Ace was not expecting was for the pipe to change trajectory and slam into his knee, sending him flying to the floor. When Sabo swung at the boy at the floor Ace promptly rolled and darted forward, slamming the pipe into Sabo’s back, as the boy had overreached, leaving himself open. The blow to the back caused Sabo to stagger and leave him once again open as the pipe hit the back of his knee, sending him careening to the floor. Of course, Sabo wasn’t down yet as he flipped his body, sending his legs flying and managing to trip Ace and knock him to the floor. That had the effect of Ace losing his pipe, it having fallen out of his hand from tripping. Ace scrambled to get the pipe but soon felt cold metal barely touching his head, causing him to slump.

            “I win.” Sabo said, a triumphant grin on his face.

            “You always manage to trip me!” Ace pouted.

           “It’s not my fault you don’t pay attention to your opponents once they’re on the ground.” Sabo snarked.

            The two brothers then turned to their brother to see what he thought of it. When they saw him they saw that he was practically vibrating in excitement.

            “That. Was. AMAZING!” Luffy shouted, running to his brothers and narrating the battle, making special effects using his hands.

            Ace and Sabo however, by the end were blushing from the praise their little brother, having never really been praised for their pipe-skills.

            “Ah, uh, we’re not _that_ good, like Sabo said I need to pay attention to my opponents always.” Ace said, rubbing the back of his head.

            “Yeah, and uh, I need to stop overreaching. That’s how Ace managed to get me in the back.” Sabo said, doing the same as Ace.

            “But still! Ace and Sabo were soooooo coooool!” Luffy said, causing the boys to blush deeper.

            To save themselves from even more blushing at the praise of their little brother Sabo spoke up.

            “S-so uh, do you wanna try now Lu?” Sabo asked.

            “Shishishi! Of course!” Luffy said.

            Sabo and Ace did rock-paper-scissors to see who would spar with Luffy. Sabo ended up winning which was probably a good thing as Ace didn’t know the meaning of restraint. So, it was with this that Sabo and Luffy were now facing each other. Sabo was in a calm and collected stance while Luffy seemed to be bouncing in place. Not even a minute after getting in place Luffy dashed after Sabo, swinging his pipe, Sabo blocking it effortlessly. The problem for Sabo was that Luffy’s assault was unrelenting as after every block Luffy would immediately swing the pipe once more, requiring Sabo to block again. It went on like this until Luffy suddenly stumbled, revealing his back and giving Sabo an open. What Sabo _did not_ expect was for Luffy to suddenly turn and block the swing intended for his back. Sabo kept up the attack, mimicking Luffy from earlier but Luffy didn’t block. No, Luffy _dodged_ every single strike. Even the ones that Luffy couldn’t possibly see, as Luffy had ended up turning around in some of his dodges, Luffy ended up dodging. Ace who was watching from the side was in shock as well. He suddenly looked to his left and saw that Marco was there watching as well in shock too.

            “GAH! Stop dodging!” Sabo shouted, frustrating him enough to not actually think and overreach once more with a strike.

            Luffy dodged the strike and slammed his pipe down onto Sabo’s back. What nobody noticed, well nobody but Marco probably, was that the tip of the pipe was pitch black. That pitch-black part slammed into the left side of Sabo’s lower back which made him go plummeting to the floor, creating a dent in the floor.

            “Ow! I give, that was freaking painful Lu!” Sabo groaned from the floor.

            Marco however was clapping from the sidelines and then walked up to Sabo and helped him up.

            “It’s not your fault, your little brother seems to have an advantage over you, yoi” Marco said.

            “Ooh, what’s that?” Sabo asked, holding the part of his back that was hit in pain.

            “Well for one, his impossibly high mastery of Observation Haki doesn’t help, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Observation Haki? Izo mentioned that to us before when explaining Lu’s ability.” Ace said.

            “Yeah, Observation Haki is normally used for the prediction of an opponent’s attacks, yoi. But your brother’s is on such a high level that he doesn’t seem to get the double vision that most Observation Haki users get when they start out, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Double vision?” Sabo asked, curious.

            “Mhm, when somebody unlocks Observation Haki for the first time and until they master it they get double visions, yoi. Basically, what happens is that you get an image overlapped over the person attacking you which can cause delays in dodging, yoi.” Marco said.

            That brought up a question for Ace, one that Marco hadn’t seem to have answered yet.

            “What happens when someone masters it?” Ace asked.

            “Well depending on their talent in Observation Haki they get one of two things or both, yoi. The one that they will definitely get is where instead of double vision it’s a voice that warns you how to dodge which makes it so that there’s no delay, yoi. The second thing that is dependent on talent is the ability to sense life and differentiate people by said life, yoi.” Marco said.

            “That’s… really cool. What about Luffy’s ability?” Sabo asked.

            “That’s a bit more difficult to explain, yoi. Only because the only people known to have it are, Gol D. Rogers, your brother, and Queen Otohime, the queen of the fishmen and mermaids, yoi. So, it’s hard to explain what qualities or even genetics are required for it, yoi.” Marco said.

            Suddenly it was Luffy who spoke up and answered.

            “Empathy, it requires pure empathy. The ability to understand the pain of the heart.” Luffy muttered, out of character for him.

            Marco seemed to think about it before nodding.

            “That’d actually explain a lot, yoi. Rogers was a very caring person and Otohime is well known for being able to know what’s wrong with her subjects just on sight, yoi.” Marco mused.

            Ace for a second, once again, flinched when his father’s name was mentioned but quickly returned to a better emotion. Sabo however, had a question that he wasn’t sure he wanted answered.

            “… But what would one need to go through to gain that kind of empathy?” Sabo asked, outright flinching when he saw Luffy’s despondent and utterly sad expression.

            Ace and Sabo immediately moved to envelope their brother in a hug and let him cuddle into their chests.

            “…. The kids and some of the adults at the village didn’t like me. Said it was cause I was friends with an infamous pirate, so I must be a problem child, right? They’d whisper mean words when they thought I couldn’t hear them, the children would throw rocks at me as I walked past.” Luffy muttered.

            The two boys and Marco bristled in rage, wanting to go back to the village and beat up the people who made this adorable boy sad.

            “That’s why gramps took me to Dadan’s ya know? He said that no child deserved to be hated, _even if they wanted to be a pirate_. Said that I would be safe with Dadan and would hopefully make two new friends. He mentioned you two by name…” Luffy muttered.

            That immediately made the two boys and man’s respect for Garp to go up, Marco having been told by Thatch in his report to Pops. It also made Ace want to really learn manners so that he could thank Shanks _and_ Garp for saving his precious little brother. However, right now Ace needed to ask a question.

            “But why didn’t you hate them back?!” Ace asked, desperately, wanting to know how such a pure and loving person can exist.

            Luffy gave them all a half-hearted smile before speaking.

            “Cause I figured it wasn’t their fault. It’s not their fault that they grew up with hateful opinions being put on them. But, I wanted no _needed_ to understand. I wanted to know why they hated me and one morning I woke up knowing why. They felt fear and confusion, not hate and I soon noticed that a lot of the fear from some of the adults were for _me_ not of me.” Luffy said.

            Sabo’s face screwed up in confusion not understanding why it’d be for him.

            “Why were they fearful for you, yoi?” Marco asked, voicing Sabo’s confusion.

            “I asked one of those adults the next day and they came clean. They said that they were afraid, afraid of what would happen to me if I became a pirate. They were afraid that I would possibly end up getting enslaved by other pirates. They said they grew up with stories like that and that even if it meant seeing my sad face they said it was better than a broken spirit.” Luffy mumbled.

            Marco could actually understand, back then at the time of Roger’s reign pirates weren’t nice people. Things were very different than today where people became pirates for freedom or One Piece. People became pirates back them for money or because they liked hurting people, Pops’ crew and Rogers’ crew were the shining lights in the darkness. Of course, there were also that one crew that went missing, the Rumbar Pirates. They were a wonderful bunch who had partied with Oyaji before when he first started out the Whitebeard Pirates, or so Pops told him. Wanting to change the subject, Marco immediately began talking about the other type of advantage Luffy had.

            “So, do you guys want to know what the second advantage Luffy had is, yoi?” Marco asked, causing the three boys to perk up and Luffy’s smile to appear back on his face.

            “What is it! Is it something really cool?!” Luffy asked, his brothers secretly glad that their little brother was back to normal.

            “I guess you could call it cool, yoi. It’s called Armament Haki. It allows you to strengthen your attacks and weapons and even allow you to attack Devil Fruit users, yoi.” Marco said.

            “But can’t you attack Devil Fruit users regardless?” Ace asked.

            “Not at all, yoi. For example, let’s take the Gomu Gomu no Mi that I heard from Thatch you guys mentioned Shanks had, yoi. It turns your entire self into rubber from you skin to your bones to even your blood vessels, yoi. This means that you are immune to blunt attacks and non-sharp projectiles because they would just bounce off, yoi.” Marco started.

            The three boys nodded, understanding so far.

            “Well, with Armament Haki it negates the rubber-quality of the skin, yoi. Meaning that someone enhancing their attack with Haki will end up actually doing damage to the person with the fruit, yoi. Then there’s Logia fruits, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Logia?” Sabo asked, not knowing there were more than one kind of Devil Fruit, as books on them were rare in the East Blue since there they were nothing but a myth.

            “Yes, yoi. There are three types of Devil Fruits, starting with Parameica, which is what the Rubber fruit is, yoi. Paramecia fruits give your body superhuman qualities or certain traits like rubber body, yoi. Then there are Zoan Fruits, like mine, yoi. They allow you to turn into an animal based on the fruit you ate, yoi. Lastly are the ones I mentioned, Logia, yoi. They allow you to completely turn into an element or substance like magma, ice, or sand, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Logia fruits sound so cool! I wonder if there’s a fire one.” Ace mused, causing Sabo to laugh at him.

            “Fire would sure suit you, since you’re a hot-head.” Sabo said.

            Ace gave Sabo a look that said he was lucky that Luffy was currently laying against his chest or he would give him hell.

            “But anyways, yoi. Logia type users can turn into their substance or element at will, yoi. This makes it where any attacks are rather useless as they would cause the person to disperse into their element, yoi With Haki however, it forces the part of the body you hit into a solid form, allowing you to land said hit, yoi.” Marco said.

            “So… what would it take to learn Observation and Armament?” Sabo asked.

            Marco tilted his head, as if thinking for a moment. He was, he was trying to remember how he had learned, as he had learned it some thirty, forty years ago. Thankfully though it quickly came back to him.

            “Mmm Armament Haki requires either meditation or for someone who knows how to use it to repeatedly hit you, yoi. Your body starts to learn how to unconsciously activate it, yoi. From there you have to learn how to remember the feeling that brought upon the Haki, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Which is faster?” Ace said, ever the impatient one.

            “The hitting one, yoi. Meditation takes a while cause you have to find your ‘inner self’, yoi. At least that’s what Pops said, yoi.” Marco said.

            Ace winced before weighing his options. Wait forever by sitting in place where he’d probably get bored or endure some damage and learn it faster? Obviously is was the second choice, Ace didn’t like waiting.

            “I guess we’ll learn it the second way, can’t be worse than shitty gramps’ Fists of Love.” Ace said.

            “And what about Observation?” Sabo asked.

            “Observation requires you to have somebody throw something at you that you’d want to dodge while your blindfolded, yoi. Like rocks or something, yoi. Then as you get better in it you move up to deadlier objects, yoi.” Marco said.

            Sabo and Ace sighed, they were going to have a long road ahead of them with learning Haki. They then decided they were done training for the morning and headed off to eat lunch in the Mess Hall. It was there that Thatch approached them with a smile.

            “Heyo, how are you guys doing?” Thatch asked.

            “Sore.” Sabo said, rubbing his back again.

            “Tired.” Ace said.

            “Hungry.” Luffy said as he dug into the food on his plate.

            “I’m not going to ask. I came to tell you that Pops is sending me on a mission and I won’t be back for two weeks. So, please go easy on my assistants. They’re not all as amazingly fast at cooking as I am.” Thatch said.

            The three boys nodded and went back to eating.

            For the next two weeks, the boys trained and meticulously avoided Teach, but Sabo made sure they did it in a way that wasn’t suspicious. Ace and Sabo began to unlock their Armament Haki by having Luffy hit them with the tiny amount of it that he could use. Even though it was only a half a hand’s worth of Haki it still hurt but they could slowly feel themselves start to use it unconsciously. That made them believe that they had someone who already used it on them before and instantly thought of gramps. For Observation Haki it consisted of Luffy throwing rocks at them that Marco had gotten for them. Luffy found it a bit funny when Ace got frustrated after getting hit in the forehead with a rock for the thirtieth time. Sabo just told Ace that if they didn’t get this down, their little brother would always be beating them in spars. That promptly got Ace to shut up.

            However, on the day that Thatch was set to come back they all waited on the deck. Soon enough they saw Thatch’s boat sailing up to the Moby Dick and the kids excitedly waited for the man, wanting to hear what happened. When the man hoisted up a small chest they got even more excited, now wanting to know what treasure he got.

            “Thatchy! How was your mission?!” Luffy asked eagerly.

            “Yeah! What kind of treasure did you get?” Ace asked, almost as eagerly.

            Thatch chuckled before jokingly looking around suspiciously and opened the chest revealing a large fruit with giant swirling purple grapes. The three boys gasped in awe. Luffy especially because he could actually _feel_ something from the Fruit. It wasn’t an emotion he usually encountered, only when someone was trying to teach him something. It was the emotion of judgement which meant the fruit was judging everyone. Although Luffy wasn’t sure as to why it was doing that.

            “Is that a Devil Fruit?!” Sabo asked, really excited to actually see one.

            “Yup! I found it while on my mission, hanging off of a bush filled with fruit.” Thatch said with a smile.

            “Are you going to eat it?” Ace asked.

            “Nah, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with it but I know I’m not gonna eat it. After all, somebody’s gotta go after Marco if he falls into the water.” Thatch said.

            Instantly Luffy shuddered, feeling that emotion that he couldn’t identify. He slowly looked over his shoulder and saw Teach looking at them. He turned his head back and tugged on his brothers’ sleeves, causing them to look at him curiously. He whispered Teach’s name, causing their eyes to widen.

            “Ah, sorry Thatch we have to go, it’s Luffy’s bath time.” Sabo said, thinking of a clever excuse.

            “Alright, see you guys later then.” Thatch said, closing the chest before heading off to Pops’ chair.

            The boys rushed to their room where Ace and Sabo turned to Luffy.

            “Did you feel the same feeling from Teach again?” Ace asked.

            Luffy rapidly nodded before speaking.

            “He, he was looking at Thatchy’s Devil Fruit.” Luffy muttered.

            “What would he want with it? Does he want to eat it?” Sabo mused.

            “I don’t know but from Luffy’s feelings we have to keep an eye on Teach.” Ace said, causing the other two boys to nod.

            It was later that night when the boys were sleeping that Luffy woke up with a startle.

            _Fear. Pain. Hate. Bad Emotion. Fear. Betrayal. Dark Happiness._

            Those emotions were screaming at Luffy’s senses so badly it caused him to get up and follow them. It took him out of the room and across the way to Thatch’s room. Fearing what he’d see he slowly opened the door and his eyes widened in fear. On the floor, bleeding from his back was Thatch, who seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness. Standing over him with a bloody knife in one hand and the Devil Fruit that Thatch had found in the other was Teach. The fruit was still giving off the emotion of judgement, but it seemed focused on Luffy and Teach. However, Luffy’s attention was purely on Thatch’s unmoving body and it alone. The boy then made a quick decision.

            “Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch!!!!!!!!!!” He screamed, tackling Teach with a headbutt enhanced by a tiny bit of Haki.

            Luffy slammed into the man’s stomach, causing him to go flying back, losing grip on the fruit but not the knife. Luffy then landed on the floor, back first. The Devil Fruit however, was in the air and started falling. Marshall D. Teach watched in horror as the fruit slowly fell onto Luffy and into his mouth, where the boy promptly bit down and swallowed. As this was happening Luffy was thinking one thought.

            ‘ _I want to protect Thatch.’_

            Suddenly Luffy could feel the emotion coming from the fruit change. It changed from an emotion of judgement to an emotion of joy. Joy that Luffy could recognize. It was in joy that it had found the right person and it had judged the boy worthy of its powers. The next few seconds were a blur for Luffy as Teach in rage lunged at Luffy.

            “ _Shh… The Darkness will protect you, young D.”_ a voice that sounded similar to the Devil Fruit’s emotion’s voice spoke to him.

            Everyone else on the ship instantly felt an overwhelming pressure which forced them all to wake up. Ace and Sabo quickly realized that Luffy wasn’t in the bed with them and they dashed through the open door and were wide eyed at what they saw. Pure black and purple energy seemed to pour off of Luffy and slam into Teach before wrapping him in it. Teach’s screams could be heard throughout the ship as the Darkness did what it did best, _consume and absorb._ It absorbed and consumed all the life energy from Teach, from the man who did not deserve the Devil Fruits powers and had dared to attempt to murder for its powers. By the time this was happening Marco, Izo, and Whitey as well as a lot of the other crew members were there too and also staring in shock at the display.

            About half a minute later the darkness dispersed, returning to Luffy and leaving a pure black gem the size of a fist that seemed to thrum with energy. What was left behind of Teach was a wilted, completely dehydrated, and clearly dead body of the former man, knife still in hand.

            Ace and Sabo quickly rushed over to Luffy who was somehow still awake while Izo rushed over to Thatch’s body and shouted for people to help him get Thatch to the infirmary. Marco however was examining Teach’s body, overlooking the damage.

            “What happened, yoi?” Marco asked, more himself, as he was confused.

            “T-teach tried to kill Thatch for the fruit.” Luffy said, now crying for his friend that he hoped wasn’t dead.

            “What?!” Marco shouted, leaving out his usual verbal tic.

            “Luffy had been feeling bad emotions from Teach ever since he met the man. They worsened when Thatch had returned with the fruit.” Sabo explained, rubbing circles on his little brother’s back.

            “Why didn’t you come to us about this?” Whitey asked, crouching by the distressed boy.

            “B-because, Shanks told me accusations against crew are taken seriously. I didn’t want you guys to hate me.” Luffy said between choked sobs.

            That caused Marco’s and Whitey’s faces to softened. Whitey promptly joined the giant hug group that Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were having. Marco however, had one more question.

            “What.. was that purple and black stuff, yoi?” He asked.

            “I-it w-was the Fruit… It fell into m-my mouth when I headbutted T-Teach. It told me that the Darkness would protect me… and it did.” Luffy said, smiling a weak smile at the end, no longer crying.

            “The… Devil Fruit spoke to you, yoi?” Marco asked, confused.

            “Y-yeah. When Thatch returned with the fruit I could feel emotions from it but only one. Like it was judging us to see who was worthy. When I ate it.. it felt joy and happiness that I was the one to eat it.” Luffy said.

            Ace however, finally noticed the gem on Luffy’s chest and picked it up, feeling the thrum of energy from it.

            “My question is, what’s this? It appeared after the darkness finished doing what it did to that bastard Teach.” Ace said.

            As soon as Ace spoke Namur stepped into the room with a large book in hand, opened wide.

            “The Yami Yami No Mi, the Logia Fruit of Darkness. Also, known as part of the Muttsu no Handan or the Six Judgements. It allows one to control gravity and black holes with access to pocket dimensions, as well as negate Devil Fruit powers. Most of all, it can do what darkness does best, consume and absorb.” Namur read from the book in his hands.

            “What’s that book, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “It’s the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, I remembered spotting it on Teach’s personal bookshelf before. I’m going to guess that the gem there is Teach’s life force.” Namur said.

            Luffy grabbed the gem and felt it in his hand as well as ‘listened’ to it with his Haki.

            “It… has a voice. But… but, it’s not Teach’s. It sounds… pure?” Luffy said, not sure.

            “If it sounds pure maybe it, I unno, purified that bastard’s life force?” Ace said, throwing a random thought out there.

            “That… could be, but then why is it black?” Sabo asked.

            Suddenly Luffy felt a little nudge in his mind that whispered words into his head.

            “Ah, the fruit says that the outside represents the personality of the person the life force came from. The color is based on the level of intensity and type of personality and that pure black means the person was a truly evil person. Whatever that means.” Luffy said, shocking the others.

            “The.. The fruit is still talking to you?” Ace asked, concerned for his little brother.

            “It says that it will until it feels that I won’t accidentally kill myself with its powers. Hey! I’m not that stupid! Oh, well I guess… It also said it wouldn’t want the first one it judged worthy to die quickly.” Luffy said, arguing mid sentence.

            That caused Marco to remember what Namur had said earlier.

            “That’s right, Namur you said it was part of the Muttsu no Handan, what does that mean, yoi?” Marco asked.

            Namur flipped through the book before finding the right page.

            “Light, Darkness, Magma, Ice, Nature, and Weather. These are the elements that are inherently dangerous for anyone in the world to control because they can encourage creation. Thus, it is hypothesized that these six Devil Fruits; the Pika Pika No Mi, the Yami Yami No Mi, the Magu Magu No Mi, the Hie Hie No Mi, the Shizen Shizen No Mi, and the Ten Ten No Mi have all developed a minor level of sentience. This sentience allows them to judge whoever eats them whether they’re worthy of using the powers of the fruit. If found worthy the fruits’ full power is granted to its user and they are effectively _immune to the sea because the elements of creation are not bound by it._ If found guilty of being unworthy the fruit effectively locks away its most effective ability and _the sea is twice as effective for those who have no respect for the elements of creation are judged guilty by the sea as well_.” Namur read.

            Everyone in the room was stunned at that revelation. If what Namur had said was true then that meant that Luffy did not have the weakness of the sea or sea stone like every other Devil Fruit user. However, in some minds like Marco’s that brought up a bad thought.

            _‘I really hope that bastard Akainu wasn’t considered worthy, yoi.’_ He thought, shivering at that idea.

            “What are the most powerful abilities?” Sabo asked, ever the scholar.

            Namur flipped the page and found the paragraph he was looking for.

            “Light has the power to encourage and improve life, Darkness the power to absorb and give life, Magma the power to form life’s home, Ice the ability to create the ocean’s life and heal, Nature the ability to create the land’s life and provide sustenance for it, and Weather the ability to promote life and create the sky’s life.” Namur read.

            “Wait, Ice can create fish and heal? Wouldn’t water be better suited for that?” Ace asked, confused.

            Marco answered that one for Namur.

            “It’s probably talking about elements in their primal state, yoi. The oceans were formed long ago from ice melting which gave birth to ocean life, yoi. And a lot of strong medicine nowadays requires cold temperatures to make it, yoi.” Marco said.

            “That’s nice and all but what does each of those abilities mean?” Ace said.

            Whitey took this one, having studied a lot about life in general. The woman was a survivalist after all, knowing about life was important.

            “It means, the Light Devil Fruit can help things grow and strengthen them, Darkness can take the life force of things and give it to others, Magma can form islands, Ice can heal and create fish as you said, Nature can grow plants and create animals as well as nutrient efficient food probably, and Weather can improve environmental conditions as well as create flying animals.” She said.

            “So… you’re saying that Luffy can make people old really fast or make them young really fast?” Sabo asked, trying to simplify it for his little brother.

            “Mhm, that gem, I’m sure if Luffy tried and I dunno, pushed it into someone, he could improve their health and or de-age them.” Whitey said.

            That brought a thought to Luffy’s mind immediately, causing him to get up and run out the door. That shocked everyone and caused Marco, Ace, Sabo, and Whitey to follow him. Luffy ended up leading them right to Whitebeard’s room where the man seemed to be awake with Izo explaining what had happened. What was the focus of Luffy’s attention were the medical apparatuses hooked up to the man, due to his old age.

            “Ah, it’s the little one who saved Thatch’s life. Izo just finished explaining everything to me. I’m sorry you had to do something like that.” Whitebeard said softly.

            “It’s okay, Teach was going to kill Thatch. But Thatch is alive now. But that’s not why I’m here.” Luffy said, in his serious mode, before climbing up the man’s pant leg and up into his lap.

            Marco, Whitey, and Namur seemed to suddenly realize what Luffy was going to do and tried to stop him but they were too late. Luffy took the black gem and put it to Whitebeard’s chest before pushing. Suddenly the gem sank straight into the skin before disappearing with a ripple. Whitebeard’s body was then engulfed in the black and purple energy that the others had seen attack Thatch but it seemed more benign then earlier. Minutes went by as everyone watched in abject horror or interest as the darkness moved around the man. It then quickly cleared and revealed something that shocked everyone but Whitebeard, as he couldn’t see it. Whitebeard’s body now had not a scar on it, his face no longer having the signs of old age on it, and the man had shoulder-length golden blonde hair now. The man looked to be in the prime of his life now, rather than teetering towards the end of it.

            “Sons, why are you staring at me like that?” Whitebeard asked, confused as he had lost his sight for a few minutes.

            “Oyaji… look.” Whitey said, taking out a mirror that she kept on her not for appearance sakes but for infiltration missions, you never know when you need a mirror to look around a corner or blind someone.

            The man carefully grabbed the mirror and looked at himself in the mirror before his eyes widened a little bit in shock.

           “How…? I look I was when I was just started the Whitebeard Pirates at thirty.” Whitebeard said in shock.

            Marco quickly explained the powers of the fruit that Luffy accidentally ate as well as the mechanics behind it. Whitebeard gave Luffy a bright smile before asking a question.

            “Why do this for me, son?” He asked.

            “Because… I could tell that Oyaji was going to die soon.. I don’t want Pops to die!” Luffy said childishly, calling Whitebeard Pops for the first time.

            That shocked everyone, but mostly Ace and Sabo as it made them, mostly Ace, realize that they couldn’t hold off on calling Whitebeard Oyaji much longer. Whitebeard however just laughed happily.

            “Gurararara! Thank you son,” Whitebeard said with a smile.

            Whitey however smiled the brightest and decided to speak her mind.

            “This calls for a party! I’ll break out my best stuff! After all, your nurses can’t say anything anymore Pops!” She said, with Whitebeard smiling and laughing.

            That resulted in a party that lasted all night long. Whitey made sure to save half a bottle of the good stuff for Thatch when he woke up. Luffy, in his adorable little way, decided to save some of the food for Thatch when he woke up. Ace and Sabo were just happy that Luffy was okay and cuddled him the whole night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, hopefully you’re still with me. Yes I de-aged Whitebeard. This is important for when we reach the canon timeline. The second thing I’m addressing is the sentience of the Six Judgements. I believe that Logia Devil Fruits with the power to practically change the world should have some form of defense mechanism if the person plans to use it for evil or just for power. Otherwise it’s just plain stupid. Next, I’ll explain Luffy’s powers here because they’re pretty straight forward. For one, the aging thing. I took that from the fact that Darkness is a consuming-type element. Yes, this functions similarly to Bonney’s aging paramecia but for one, he can’t age people without a gem. And when he does it consumes the gem. But what he can do is use the gem and then re-age someone to get the gem back, but it’ll look differently. For two, where Bonney can just tap someone and age or de-age them Luffy has to remain in contact with the person for a few seconds, depending on how much he wants to age or de-age them. Next, Luffy can control gravity, I figured I’d stick with that. In this fic I get pretty creative with that idea because Teach just flings it around like it’s candy. Next, Luffy can use his darkness to smother light but this also works in reverse, Kizaru can smother Luffy’s darkness with light. Neither is superior to the other but rather they cancel each other out. God, this end AN is getting long, anyways, Luffy can for a lack of better term steal and swap devil fruits and he can potentially hold two devil fruits in him but they have to be of differentiating categories. He can’t do two Logias or it’d forcefully spit out the one that he attempted to assimilate. He can also give a person a second Devil Fruit (I’m only implying this from Dressrosa when that one dude implies that he’s going to steal Sabo’s new Mera Mera no Mi) but he’s not really going to do this unless you guys actually want me to. Second to last, concerning the fact that Luffy’s not affected by water, well at the moment it really doesn’t mean anything. Luffy still sucks at swimming so he’ll sink regardless. He just won’t lose his devil fruit powers in the sea or while cuffed with seastone. LASTLY, Luffy’s darkness-body functions differently than how canon does it. It works just like as if he was sand, fire, light, etc. It means that physical attacks don’t work on him unless enhanced with Haki. Now some may be like, how is that different, well in canon because Darkness is an abstract element Teach is forced to absorb attacks rather than let them phase through. Well, I thought that stupid and changed it. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please give suggestions about what you want me to do with Lu’s powers! Even though I have like four/five more chapters ready doesn’t mean I can’t change them!


	5. Stealing from Admiralty and Power Training!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 5 everyone! So far I have five more chapters ready, totaling ten. Currently though this week and maybe next I am working on another OP ASL story but instead of them knowing Luffy from the start it’s an ASL Doflamingo raises Luffy story. Don’t worry Luffy quickly absolves Doffy of his cruelty and Doffy becomes a doting father. Law ends up staying as well, whether or not he becomes the new Corazon or the Heart Pirates Captain I unno but Rosinante does stay alive. ASL comes into existence like Chapters 3-5 maybe because that’s the ‘Goa Vacation Arc’ which introduces Sabo and Ace, as well as Shanks. You’ll get to see Doffy beating up Sabo’s father in that arc for being a little shit to his son. Also, I’m probably going to make Luffy a Shichibukai because Doffy will legally take control over Dressrosa with the King very willing about it so Lu becomes a Prince. As a wanted pirate he can’t hold a royalty title. Um, this is also to protect Ace from the WG since they can’t go after subordinates of Shichibukai. But anyways hopefully when I post it you guys will like it! BTW, I uh have seemed to forgotten to mention an additional power of Luffy’s. Well you literally find out about it in the first paragraph. Enjoy!

            The week following the ‘incident’ involving Teach Marco had decided that Luffy needed to learn how to use his abilities. Why? Well, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were walking to the Galley for lunch when Luffy stumbled and fell _into_ a shadow. Ace and Sabo panicked so much they ran to Marco and started screaming about Luffy and falling and shadows.

            “Woah, woah, woah, yoi. Slow down and start from the beginning, yoi.” Marco said, holding his hands up.

            “Luffy fell into a shadow! We don’t know where he is!” Sabo shouted.

            “It could be part of the Yami Yami no Mi’s powers, yoi.” Marco offered.

            “That still doesn’t help us get Lu back!” Ace yelled in frustration.

            Marco promptly whacked the both of the boys upside their heads.

            “Be calm, yoi. If anything, he’s probably somewhere else on the ship, yoi. From the sound of it he ended up using his powers to walk through the shadow, shadows are an aspect of darkness after all, yoi.” Marco surmised.

            “But that still doesn’t help us!” Sabo moaned.

            “Yes, it does, when one starts using their Devil Fruit powers a lot of them are used instinctually, yoi. So, the question is, where did Luffy instinctually want to go, yoi?” Marco said.

            Instantly the two boys’ eyes widened and they were off. Marco rolled his eyes and followed them. He wasn’t surprised at all when the boys went into the galley and asked one of the cooks to open the door to the food storage.

            “Why? There’s food out already you know?” The cook said.

            “Luffy’s more than likely ended up inside, having used some of his new powers by accident, yoi.” Marco said.

            When the cook opened the door, lo and behold, Luffy was huddled up against the wall freezing. Ace and Sabo quickly helped their little brother out of the room and cuddled up against him so he could warm up.

            “S-s-so cold.” Luffy muttered.

            “You were in a place intended to preserve food, what did you expect, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “N-not t-to f-f-fall i-i-into a s-s-hadow.” Luffy said, shivering.

            “… Why did you fall into the shadow? I mean Marco said that you start out using the powers instinctively but…” Ace said, trailing off.

            Thankfully, Luffy was warm enough for his teeth to stop chattering.

            “My powers seem to have a sense of humor at the moment.” Luffy mumbled.

            “What’s that?” Sabo asked, not sure if he heard right.

            “My powers, decided to activate on their own and _trip_ me into the shadow.” Luffy muttered.

            Ace and Sabo had to hold their laughter in at that. Primarily because if they laughed at Luffy then he’d be mad at him. And mad Luffy means he ignores him until they apologize seriously. Marco however, had no such inclination and laughed out loud, causing Luffy to glare at the man.

            “It’s not funny! Apparently, it wanted me to move forward in learning my powers. So it tripped me!” Luffy ranted.

            “Well, then how about we train your abilities then, yoi?” Marco asked.

            That instantly got Luffy to stop glaring at the man and instead perk up and get hyper.

            “That’d be awesome!” Luffy shouted.

            “Food first, yoi.” Marco said.

            “MEAT!” Luffy shouted, dragging Sabo and Ace to the nearest table.

            About forty-five minutes later we find our trio in one of the training rooms with Marco. Marco was sitting cross-legged across from Luffy who was doing the same.

            “Awww do we have to meditate?” Luffy whined.

            “No we are not meditating, yoi. I just find it easier to sit down as we do this, yoi.” Marco said.

            “But aren’t we going to learn how to fight with my abilities?” Luffy asked, his face adorably screwed up in confusion.

            “Not yet, yoi. You need to know what your powers can do first, yoi. Let’s try something simple, yoi.” Marco said.

            Marco then partially transformed his arm and plucked a flaming feather off, wincing, before reverting his arm back. When he did that the feather lost its flames, and became just an ordinary blue feather now.

            “I want you to increase the weight on the feather and make it fall faster, yoi.” Marco said, tossing the feather into the air.

            Luffy felt a nudge in his mind like when he was falling through the shadow. It was like a tiny voice that instructed him what to do. So, he squinted at the feather and smiled in triumph when black-purple energy surrounded the feather. However that smile vanished when the feather slammed down into the training room floor, creating a large crater and making it look like the floor was going to break.

            “… That was _way_ too much gravity, yoi.” Marco said.

            “You think?!” Sabo shouted from the side, staring at the crater.

            Once more the voice whispered in his head, scolding him for putting too much concentration on the feather. Luffy just rolled his eyes, which caught Marco’s attention.

            “Is the Fruit speaking again, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Yes! It’s scolding me for concentrating too much.” Luffy whined, causing Marco to chuckle.

            Marco decided to have Luffy try again so he put the feather in the air. Luffy just looked at the feather this time instead of squinting. This time however, the feather flew higher instead. The four just watched in silence as the feather slowly rose to the ceiling.

            “… I just realized. If Luffy can reverse gravity… that means he can fly and possibly walk on air.” Sabo muttered, causing stars to appear in his eyes.

            Marco however, stopped him before he could even attempt to fly.

            “No, yoi. You don’t know how to work your powers yet, yoi. If you mess up you could hurt yourself, yoi. So back to training.” Marco said, causing Luffy to pout.

            So, that’s how Luffy spent his days after lunch, training his powers. After about five days Luffy had managed to get a grip on his Shadow Travel power and had found out that he could take people and things through it. Of course, Luffy used this power to drag his brothers around the ship. While Shadow Traveling wasn’t discomforting to them, Sabo and Ace found it a bit disturbing because when you went through a shadow you ended up traveling through a pitch-black corridor that had splotches of light. Those splotches of light, were exits for Luffy to get out of. About two days after that Luffy had discovered his ability to access a pocket dimension where he could store things, even people. However, with people he had to be careful with how he put them in there because they could get a bit damaged. But if he managed to do it right, he could put them in a stasis where no time would pass. Izo had admitted that power was perfect for medical extractions because Luffy could prevent the person from dying by storing them in his pocket dimension.

            Luffy was actually really happy later in the day after he discovered the pocket dimension. Why? Because Thatch woke up.

            “Thatch! You’re awake!” Luffy shouted in happiness as he hugged Thatch who winced in pain.

            “Watch it little buddy, I still hurt.” Thatch said.

            “Oh! Sorry..” Luffy said, sitting down by the man now.

            “So… Izo explained to me what happened.” Thatch said.

            Luffy nodded and happily dematerialized his right arm into darkness. He had been learning that with everything else as he had to learn how to turn into his element at will.

            “I’m a Darkness Human now!” Luffy said with a smile as his arm reformed.

            “I heard that too, I also heard you saved me little guy.” Thatch said with a smile.

            “Mhm, Teach was not nice. Nobody hurts Thatch.” Luffy muttered.

            Thatch just smiled and ruffled Luffy’s hair and slowly drifted back to sleep, still tired.

            After visiting Thatch Luffy threw himself into training. Of course, the brothers were training alongside their brother. Luffy was training in his Devil Fruit abilities and Haki, while the other two were only learning Haki. Of course, since Ace’s and Sabo’s plan was to learn Busoshoku Haki first, or Armament Haki, so they could actually spar with Luffy, Luffy had to train twice as hard. He wasn’t going to be the weak one in the group after all! Luffy’s first plan was to be able to manipulate gravity at a whim, be able to increase it and then a second later reverse it. This idea had come from both Luffy’s mind and Sabo’s. They together, with Luffy’s knowledge of physics, had figured out how to let Luffy fly. It’d require him to alternate between increasing and decreasing gravity rapidly. Luffy would rapidly increase gravity to increase his speed and then rapidly decrease it to cause him to fly forward. After a month of training Luffy finally managed to do it, but there was a problem. The technique was very draining because it required a constant stream of darkness to fuel it. However, Luffy had figured that if it was night time that he’d be able to do it for a whole hell of a lot longer because after all, night time was the domain of the dark right?

            About three months later though, the Whitebeards were docked on an island and Luffy went off to explore, unbeknownst to everyone. So here Luffy was, wandering the beach when he found a weird looking fruit that had a flame-like design.

            “Ooh a devil fruit? I wonder if Ace’ll like to eat you.” Luffy muttered as he pulled a bag out of his pocket dimension and put the devil fruit in it.

            Luffy then decided to play around on the beach, having never really got to do it at Foosha village, cause it was a port town rather than a beach town. Of course, he made sure that he didn’t go too far into the water, so he didn’t drown because despite the fact that he was immune to the weakness of the sea, he still didn’t know how to swim. He hummed as he kicked his legs in the water, enjoying the nice feeling. Suddenly however, he felt a dark voice with his senses. He wanted to go but for some reason the voice of the Fruit was yelling at him to go to it. So, he hesitantly walked to where the dark voice was coming from. It led him into the forest where he found a path with a man that Marco had talked about in fear. Walking on the path was a man in a red suit smoking a cigar and on his head was a hat that said Marine.

            _‘What the hell Fruit?! Are you trying to get me killed? Pineapple said that, that man is dangerous beyond belief’_ Luffy thought furiously.

            The voice however told him to slowly position the bag so that it was slightly open with the devil fruit was pointing outwards. Luffy groaned mentally and did so, feeling that the Fruit was going to have him do something stupid. Thankfully he wasn’t wearing any of his clothes today that had the Whitebeard mark on it. His eyes widened when the Fruit’s voice told him to run at the man and ‘accidentally’ trip into him, pushing the fruit at him.

            ‘ _Ace and Sabo are going to kill me.’_ Luffy whined mentally.

            Luffy then took a deep breath and steeled himself. He started jogging through the path, heading towards the Admiral and ‘tripped’, falling onto the man and pushing the fruit towards him. Luffy was utterly surprised when the devil fruit he found sunk into the man and a different came out and into the bag.

            “I’m so sorry! I was in a hurry.” Luffy said as he discreetly closed the bag.

            “It’s okay, just watch where you’re going.” The man said gruffly before continue walking.

            Luffy then quickly got away as fast as he could, diving into an out of sight shadow. He then dashed through the corridor and made it to the nearest shadow by the Whitebeard ship. He ended up coming out from an alley by the port. Luffy then dashed up the ramp to the Moby Dick and barreled into Marco.

            “Wha? Luffy, yoi! Where were you, we’ve been looking for you, yoi!” Marco said.

            “No time. Admiral Akainu. Here. Stole Devil Fruit. GO” Luffy breathed out, making Marco’s eyes widen.

            “All sails up, yoi! Thankfully everyone’s on board but we need to go, yoi! Admiral Akainu’s here, yoi!” Marco shouted.

            Instantly everyone got to work and minutes later the Moby Dick was promptly getting out of sight of the island. Luffy however, was now in Whitebeard’s room, staring down his two brothers, Marco, Thatch, and Whitebeard.

            “What were you thinking?!” Ace shouted.

            “It’s not my fault Ace! Mr. Fruit wouldn’t shut up!” Luffy shouted.

            “Calm down, yoi. Let your brother explain Ace, yoi. What did you mean by you _stole_ a Devil Fruit, yoi?” Marco asked calmly.

            Luffy then opened up the backpack and pulled out a fruit that nobody really recognized. It was dark red and orange with teardrop like pieces that made it look like it was dripping.

            “Uh, I had found a Devil Fruit washed up on the shore but it wasn’t this one. Mr. Fruit told me to follow the evil voice I heard and that’s when I found Akainu. It told me to take the fruit and push it into the man. I did so and I got this… I think I stole that Admiral guy’s Devil Fruit in exchange for whatever the other one was.” Luffy breathed out all at once.

            “… You stole Admiral Akainu’s Devil Fruit?” Marco uttered in shock, his yoi not appearing due to it.

            “Mhm! I think I can swap people’s Devil Fruits as long as I have a Devil Fruit I can swap them with.” Luffy said.

            “…Then why didn’t you just take the guy’s devil fruit rather than give him a different one?” Thatch asked, curiously.

            Luffy gave Thatch a look that was basically asking him if he was being stupid.

            “I may not be bright but I know that if I suddenly felt no connection to my powers after being ran into by a kid that I’d believe it to be the kid’s fault.” Luffy said, rolling his eyes.

            “… Lu has a point you know, you are dumb Thatch.” Ace said, sticking out his tongue.

            Thatch started whining at Marco to tell the kids to leave them alone, however that just caused Whitebeard and Marco to laugh at the man.

            “Oh yeah! I wanted to give Ace the other fruit because I thought it might be fire, but I guess uh here?” Luffy said, before handing Ace the Magu Magu no Mi.

            “... You’re giving him one of the Six Judgements to him?” Sabo asked, curiously.

            “Yeah! Mr. Lava Fruit says it’s okay!” Luffy said.

            Oh yeah, they forgot that Luffy being able to talk to certain Devil Fruits was part of his Observation Haki.

            “Plus, Ace wanted to be fire! But magma’s so much cooler!” Luffy said.

            Ace gave a nervous look to the adults in the room.

            “Can I?” He asked curiously.

            “Luffy gave it to you, we don’t mind at all. We’d only mind if you give it to Marine Gurarara!” Whitebeard laughed.

            Ace then hugged Luffy real tight before giving him a kiss on the cheek to thank him. He then bit into the fruit, grimacing at its awful taste. Marco stopped him before he could take another bite, telling him he didn’t actually need to eat it all.

            “Thank the Blue, that tasted horrific.” Ace said before grimacing again.

            Suddenly the area was lit up as Ace’s arm turned into magma, causing him to freak out before he realized it was him. That caused everyone to laugh at him.

            “Hey! Why didn’t this happen to Luffy?! Wait… I understand what you mean by voice… Lu was your voice as snarky as mine?” Ace said, whining.

            “Shishishi. Not at all, according to Mr. Fruit each ‘voice’ has its own persona-perso- ah I can’t pronounce it!” Luffy grumbled.

            “Personality, Lu, and to answer you Ace, maybe darkness is more stable than magma.” Sabo said before Lu hugged him tight to thank him.

            “Thank you Sabo! Yeah, that word. It says that uh, it’s based on the uh, that word, of the element.” Luffy said, stumbling his way through repeating what his fruit said.

            “So.. the personality of the voice is based on the personality of the element, yoi? I guess I understand, magma is really hot which can translate to ill-tempered I guess, yoi?” Marco mused.

            “So… if Admiral Kizaru was worthy of his fruit the voice would be really hyper? BWUAHAHA!” Thatch said, laughing real hard.

            To be honest that was actually really funny if you think about it. Just picturing the Admiral having to listen to a hyper-childlike voice explain its abilities to him.

            “I just want to know when this voice’ll go away.” Ace muttered.

            “I think Luffy’s fruit already explained it, yoi. It’ll go away when you learn all the abilities you can learn from it, yoi.” Marco said.

          “Which really shouldn’t take long, considering magma doesn’t have as many crazy abilities as Darkness.” Thatch mused, having had watched one of Luffy’s training sessions.

            Ace’s eyes however lit up, as if he was being told something real cool. It turned out that he had been told something really cool.

            “My fruit would like to remind you that magma can create volcanoes.” Ace said with glee.

            Marco however sent Ace a glare that cowered him.

            “You’re not doing that anytime soon and if I see you attempting to I will toss you overboard, immune to sea weakness or not, yoi. I’m pretty sure magma still doesn’t like water, yoi.” Marco said.

            Ace soon quickly promised not to create any volcanoes on the ship or at all until he could safely use the ability without destroying an island.

            “Ne, can you walk on air like me or something?” Luffy asked, curious.

            “… I’m a magma human, I don’t think air is in my job description.” Ace said.

            “You.. I unno could walk on water? By stepping on water you could create patches of land.” Sabo tried suggesting.

            Ace’s eyes then went blank for a second, everyone assuming he was talking to the ‘fruity voice’ that Sabo was going to start to call it. His focus soon came back and he smiled.

            “Uh, it says I can but I’d want to undo whatever patch of land is behind me, less I want to damage ally ships.” Ace said.

            “That is true, yoi. We could just plow through it but… that would damage the hull of some of our ships, yoi.” Marco said.

            Thatch however quickly realized what time it was and rushed out of the room. Everyone was confused until the trio realized it was dinner time and rushed out as well to get to the galley so that they could eat. Of course, Ace hadn’t exactly got the burning and melting aspect of his magma to go away as he ended up melting a lot of the food he tried to pick up. It wasn’t until Sabo pointed out to Ace that until he got control over it he couldn’t cuddle Luffy anymore. Instantly Ace focused and managed to get it under control, despite how rather impossible that should have been. But to be honest, Sabo found it quite believable, they were both such bro-cons that the thought of not being able to hold their little brother would be blasphemy to them. Of course, Sabo knew that even if Ace wanted to burn Luffy by touching him, which he didn’t, it wouldn’t work because Luffy can negate Devil Fruits by touching. Sabo just told him that so that he would get it under control faster. Since, just because Luffy is immune to the burning magma doesn’t mean Sabo is. And obviously, later that night if you went into their room you’d find Ace cuddling Luffy close and tight to him, not wanting let him go.

            The entirety of the next week was filled with Ace trying to figure out to use his powers. The reason being, as Ace said, is that he wanted the snarky voice gone as soon as possible. According Luffy’s voice however, Luffy was truly getting pretty close to not needing it anymore. The only thing that Luffy hadn’t managed to learn was how to manipulate someone’s life force (as it required a vict- I mean willing partner) and make a physical manifestation of gravity. Luffy was completely confused on the last one because he didn’t know what it meant. Which is why they were in the training room right now with Luffy relaying the voice’s explanations.

            “I actually might know what it’s talking about, I think.” Sabo said.

            “Really?!” Luffy asked, eagerly, practically vibrating in place.

            “Well, could it mean create something that when picked up or worn imposes a gravity change on someone?” Sabo asked.

            Luffy frowned because the voice was still being vague but didn’t deny or accept that it was the answer.

            “I mean you could try it Lu.” Ace said, leaning against the wall, practicing his ability to cool, harden, and then change back his magma.

            Luffy sighed and his face scrunched up in concentration as his hand engulfed itself in darkness. Soon the darkness began to coalesce in his hand and form a black and purple bracelet that had the number one point five on it. Suddenly Luffy got a mischievous look on his face and walked over to Ace.

            “Ace could you try this on pleeeeaaaasseeee!” Luffy begged, with his puppy dog eyes.

            Ace tried to resist but those eyes were too powerful so he grumbled and slipped on the bracelet. The effects were rather instantaneous as Ace slammed into the ground, having not braced himself.

            “Blue! How much does this weigh?!” Ace grunted, slowly pushing himself up, the weight making it hard.

            This was where Luffy’s somehow prodigious knowledge about gravity came in.

            “Uh, the number was one point five, which probably means one point five times the normal gravity. Uh and normal gravity would be how much you weigh, which is uh Sabo?” Luffy said, asking Sabo as he didn’t really know Ace’s weight but Sabo kept track of all their health stuffs.

            “Ninety-five pounds Lu.” Sabo offered.

            “Ah, so yeah ninety-five pounds, that means uh it weighs uh ninety-five times one point five. Sabooo you’re the one who’s good at decimals.” Luffy whined, causing Sabo to chuckle and Ace to just grunt as he finally managed to get back up into his sitting position.

            “One hundred and forty-two point five Lu.” Sabo said.

            “Yeah that, that’s how much it weighs.” Luffy said.

            “A hundred and forty-two pounds?! I can barely lift eighty Lu!” Ace said.

            Luffy gave Ace a sad look which just caused the boy to blush and look away.

            “Aw come on Ace!” Luffy begged.

            “Think about it like this Ace. If you can end up handling that weight on your body, you’ll be a lot faster when you take it off.” Sabo tried reasoning.

            That seemed to get Ace’s attention as he perked up and then sighed at Luffy.

            “Fine… but you both have to wear one too.” Ace said.

            So it was with that, that the crew found the three boys struggling to walk as if they were deep in water. Marco found them struggling to get to the galley for lunch, which he found odd as the boys usually ran there.

            “Why are you going so slow, yoi?” Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “Luffy, gravity bracelets.” Ace grunted, taking a tentative step forward as not to go tumbling.

            “I thought we agreed to call them Grav Locks?” Sabo grunted.

            “Grav Locks, yoi?” Marco asked.

            It was then that he noticed the pitch black beaded bracelet that had the number one point five inscribed on them. Before he could theorize Luffy spoke up.

            “Yeah! They’re bracelets that increase a person’s gravity. We’re using them for training.” Luffy said cheerfully.

            “But… they’re bracelets, yoi. Why are they called Grav Locks, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Because, if Lu doesn’t specifically think to allow someone to take it off, then only he can take them off. So they’re, ‘locked’ onto a person.” Sabo explained.

            “…. So why are you wearing them, yoi?” Marco asked.

            To be honest Marco didn’t understand much about gravity, as it wasn’t his focus. He was the Navigator for the crew, not a scientist.

            “To get faster.” Ace said, a look of joy appearing on his face when he saw the door to the galley.

            Well, Marco could understand that. From how it looked, it seemed that they were carrying a lot of weight on their bodies. If it were to disappear after they got used to it they’d be much faster. About three minutes later the boys finally managed to get to the galley and rushed as fast as they could to the table where all the food was. Thatch, who was serving the food, raised an eyebrow but simply let them be. The boys then trudged over to a table where Izo, Haruta, Jozu, and Whitey were sitting, after getting more food than they ate usually. All four of them looked at them in shock when the boys ate at a slow pace, a hell of a lot slower than usual.

            “Are you three sick?” Izo asked, concerned for them.

            That’s when Marco came over and sat down with his food.

            “No they’re not, yoi. It’s part of their training, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Eating slow? That’s an odd form of training.” Haruta remarked.

            “No, they’ve multiplied their gravity apparently, yoi.” Marco said.

            Ace and Sabo grunted out an approval to that statement, much more content to eat. Luffy however, cheered out a yes before going back to the food. Ace and Sabo scowled at his cheerfulness.

            “You’d think that he’s used to this amount of weight.” Ace mumbled.

            “Hasn’t Luffy been training to use his abilities to fly?” Jozu asked.

            “Yeah but what does that have to do with this?” Sabo muttered.

            “Didn’t he like have to increase his gravity and then reverse it to fly?” Jozu replied, raising an eyebrow, having watched one of the youngest of the boys’ training sessions.

            Suddenly Ace and Sabo dropped their eating utensils and glared at Luffy. Luffy just giggled and smiled at them.

            “Lu… are you already used to this amount?” Ace asked dangerously.

            “Yes?” Luffy tentatively said.

            “…Then why were you struggling with us?” Sabo had to ask.

            “Because Ace and Sabo were struggling and it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t struggle.” Luffy said.

            Ace threw his hands up in the air in frustration, wincing at how sore that made his arms.

            “Then why didn’t you just make yours two times?!” Ace shouted.

            “Because, I wanted to match Ace and Sabo.” Luffy said simply causing the other two boys to groan.

            “Luffy, how much gravity have you been working with for your flight?” Sabo asked, causing Luffy to pout.

            “… Three times.” Luffy said, causing the others to look in shock at Luffy.

            “…Lu you weigh sixty pounds, that means you’ve been playing with a hundred and eighty pounds of weight! You could have hurt yourself!” Sabo panicked.

            “Nu uh! It was really difficult at first but I kind of got used to it.” Luffy rebutted.

            “If you’re used to a hundred and eighty pounds of weight on yourself, then why aren’t you moving faster in our spars?” Ace asked, confused.

            “Because, it’s not fair to Ace and Sabo if I can move much faster than you. I had to try real hard to move like before. I kept stumbling until I got it right!” Luffy whined.

            The boys actually did remember a time where Luffy kept stumbling a lot. They didn’t exactly think much about it but now it kind of made sense. Ace gave Luffy a begging look before speaking.

            “Can you please increase your Grav Lock’s number?” Ace begged, quickly causing Luffy to agree.

            The other five at the table watched in interest as Luffy tugged on the bracelet and it soon broke, the beads turning into smoke before disappearing. Then their interest doubled when Luffy started coalescing darkness in his palm. Just like earlier the darkness solidified into a bracelet but this one had the number three point five on it. Luffy then slid the bracelet on and grunted when he felt the weight coming down on him. He then returned to slowly eating, this time it actually being due to the weight rather than him faking it.

            “That actually seems really cool. I think Speed Jiru would like something like that. The guy’s always trying to find ways to get faster.” Haruta mused.

            “I don’t know Haruta, Jiru trains his abilities a lot differently than how the boys are doing it. Giving him one of those may have him need to start at the beginning.” Whitey said, having seen most of the Commanders train before.

            “Yeah but knowing Jiru, he might accept it anyways, yoi.” Marco said.

            It was silent for a bit before Luffy spoke up.

            “I mean I could do it but, I wanna wait.” Luffy said.

            “Why wait?” Haruta asked.

            “I just wanna wait!” Luffy said, sticking out his tongue.

            “There’s no point in asking him why he wants to wait. When he’s like this he won’t give you an answer.” Ace said, before taking another bight of food and sighing.

            “Yeah, usually Lu’s bad at lying and keeping secrets but when he actually has a reason to lie or keep a secret, it’s pointless to try to get it out of him.” Sabo said.

            Haruta just pouted at Luffy before sighing.

            “Fine, but I still don’t get why want to wait.” Haruta grumbled.

            “And I won’t tell you!” Luffy said.

            Luffy _did_ have a reason for keeping it a secret. After all, it was nearing the end of November which meant December was next! And in December was Christmas! Even if he didn’t know how the Whitebeard Pirates did Christmas he’d still want to give the Grav Locks as gifts. But if they ended up doing that Secret Santa thingy Makino told him about he’d have to find an additional present. Decisions, decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Luffy has an obsession with Christmas and takes it very seriously. This follows into next chapter which is the Christmas Chapter. There’s also a tiny bit of angst next chapter, but it doesn’t last long. After all, can’t have their lives go exactly perfect and it does fit the personalities of the two who start the angst. But yeah! Thanks for reading and please give suggestions! I thrive on suggestions, especially on places where they should go. I’m serious about that. I know at one point they’ll go to Alabasta and Luffy’ll befriend Vivi but… where else?! I don’t exactly want to interfere with the plot line of East Blue that much lest I have less to do in that Arc. Though I kinda want to do Cocoyashi early and save Nami and have her join Luffy early. Decisions, Decisions.


	6. Christmas Time with Family... and Marines?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Christmas time in February, how wonderful. No seriously, today’s chapter covers Christmas! Woo! Some interesting things happened. I know you guys wanted Shanks to react to Whitebeard’s de-aging but I couldn’t really fit it in here. Just imagine they had a private conversation. There’s also a tiny bit of angst here between the three brothers. Also once you finish reading please read the end AN for an explanation on part of the story. In other news! I am working on another ASL story called Decisions Over Tea. This one will be a bit different in that it’ll cover Ace and Sabo taking Luffy when they turn seventeen with Luffy as their captain. Sabo, by the way, ends up getting brought back by the Revolutionaries. The story may be AceSaboLu and I really need an idea for a crew name I was going to go ASL Pirates but that’s… too cliché. I do have an idea for the flag which incorporates symbols for each of the boys. Also, we finally hit the twenty million mark for Save Ace event! Woo so we get a new Ace. But I’m still rerolling like hell for the Sugofest Ace. If any of you want to start playing OPTC I’ve saved a few accounts with good things so far. I only have like two legend (Sugo Rares that can only be acquired during Sugofest) accounts so far and I don’t want either because they’re not Sugo Ace. I also have other accounts that aren’t sugo rare accounts. Anywho onwards we go.

            Luffy was currently skipping down the hall. Why? Well he had just managed to talk Marco and Oyaji into letting them travel to a Winter Island, something he had learned about from Sabo, in the Grand Line. He wanted it to be snowy on Christmas after all! Even _if_ the holiday was still three weeks away. Speaking of Oyaji, he could see that Ace was slowly getting close to calling Whitebeard Pops. Luffy could tell that Sabo had already accepted Oyaji as Oyaji when Luffy did but only called him Whitebeard to prevent Ace from getting frustrated. Ace however, didn’t mind Luffy calling Whitebeard Oyaji. Anyways, he was making his way to the Galley even though it wasn’t time for food. No, he was heading there for a different reason. Luffy quickly however had to dive into a shadow when his brothers were coming.

            ‘ _Phew that was close, almost blew it._ ’ Luffy thought as he made his way through the corridor. He quickly spotted the spot of light that he knew to be the free space under the preparation table that Thatch used. As he came out Thatch yelped in surprise, jumping back.

            “Luffy! Don’t do that kid! You scared the crap out of me, what if I had a knife?” Thatch asked, holding his heart.

            “I trust you enough to not throw a knife at me Thatch.” Luffy said with a smile.

            Thatch however just sighed and shook his head with a smile. Luffy quickly tumbled out from under the table, allowing Thatch to return to work.

            “You know, I’m not going to let you have any freebies. You can wait until lunch is ready.” Thatch said.

            Luffy shook his head because he wasn’t here for food! No he was here for something more important.

            “I’m not here for that!” Luffy said out loud.

            “Then why did you come in here?” Thatch asked, with a raised eyebrow.

            “I was avoiding my brothers. Plus, I have to ask you a question.” Luffy said.

            “Hmm? You’re avoiding your brothers? That’s… out of character for you.” Thatch mused.

            “I realize this! But still, question!” Luffy said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

            With another sigh and smile Thatch set down the knife and potato that was in his hands and gave Luffy his full attention.

            “Alright, what’s the important question?” Thatch asked.

            “How… do you guys do Christmas?” Luffy asked, a serious look on his face.

            “Eh? Christmas? Not much, we do a Secret Santa but don’t really throw a party.” Thatch said.

            Thatch then burst into laughter as he saw the horrified and offended look on Luffy’s face. You would have thought that Thatch had told Luffy that Ace and Sabo were dead and that there was no meat left.

            “ _No party?!?!_ That’s blasphemy!” Luffy shrieked, as much as an eight-year-old could.

            “You know the word blasphemy?” Thatch asked jokingly.

            “Sabo’s got me reading a dictionary, but that’s not the point! _Why is there no party?!?!”_ Luffy demanded to know.

            Thatch was a bit confused by Luffy’s focus around a party. It wasn’t like there was a need for a party.

            “There was never a need for it, why are you so hung up on a party?” Thatch asked.

            “Because! Christmas is a day to celebrate your family! It’s to celebrate that you aren’t _lonely in the world_! It’s the one day that everyone’s nice to each other! It demands a party!” Luffy ranted.

            Thatch now was shocked. He didn’t realize the kid cared so much about the holiday. Of course when Luffy mentioned the lonely bit, Thatch’s heart practically broke when he realized the boy was desperate for there to be a party. With a smile he looked at Luffy in the eyes and asked a question.

            “Alright then, how did you celebrate Christmas at Dawn Island?” Thatch asked.

            Luffy then began to regale Thatch with tales of the parties thrown at Foosha Village. He told Thatch how Christmas was the one time that everyone was nice to him and the village always threw one big party. He regaled Thatch with the smiles that warmed Luffy and the laughter that just kept coming. He told Thatch of how it was the also the one day that his Grandpa would visit and be nice. He then told Thatch of how his gramps would tell him how Christmas was the one day that Marines would ignore Pirates. That actually shocked Thatch. Sure he had noticed that there was a severe lack of Marines on Christmas Day but…

            “Why don’t the Marines come after Pirates on Christmas Day?” Thatch asked, curious.

            “Gramps said that it’s because it’s the one day of the year where everyone decides to be happy. He said that the three admirals and the fleet admiral had all agreed on it.” Luffy said, repeating what his gramps had said.

            “Wait, Admiral Akainu agreed to this?” Thatch asked, not being able to believe that an evil man like that would agree to it.

            “Maybe the Christmas spirit exists in everyone.” Luffy said.

            Luffy then turned the puppy dog eyes on and began to beg Thatch to help him plan a Christmas party. Of course Thatch relented, but Luffy didn’t really need to use the puppy dog eyes because he would have agreed anyways.

            “Alright then, I’ll do the food, what kind of food should a Christmas party have?” Thatch asked, deciding to rely on Luffy’s expertise on Christmas.

            “Um, let’s see.. We had turkey, pudding, a yule log, which was actually a chocolate roll, um cranberry sauce, a Christmas ham but it’s just normal ham served at Christmas, uh mashed potatoes, apple cider, eggnog, different pies, and fudge.” Luffy listed off.

            Thatch whistled. That was a lot of variety of food but he and his assistants could do it. He’d just have to get the supplies at the next island because they were out of ingredients for pudding and had no ham or turkey on the ship.

            “Alright, I can do that. Where are you heading next?” Thatch asked.

            “To Izo’s room! I’m gonna get his help decorating.” Luffy said.

            “Alright then, good luck.” Thatch said.

            Luffy ran to the nearest shadow and dove in. Since he hadn’t really found Izo’s room on the fourth floor he had to pop out of a shadow on that floor instead. He then made his way around the floor looking for the crossdresser’s room before he finally found it near the end of the hall. Luffy took a breath and then knocked, after which Izo said he could come in. Inside the room Izo was working on a pile of paperwork but looked up when he saw Luffy.

            “What do you need Luffy? Your brothers have been looking for you, you know?” Izo said.

            “They can wait, I’m planning.” Luffy said.

            “Planning what?” Izo asked curiously.

            “A Christmas Party! I just got Thatch to agree to do the food.” Luffy said.

            Izo could see where this was going and smiled at the boy.

            “Let me guess, you want me to help with decorations?” Izo asked.

            “Yup! I also need you to make some normal sized Santa hats and a giant Santa hat and maybe white beard for Oyaji.” Luffy said.

            That made Izo chuckle thinking of Pops in a Santa Hat and beard.

            “How are you going to get him to wear it?” Izo asked.

            “Imma ask him.” Luffy said as if it was that simple.

            It probably was that simple. Most if not all of the crew would do anything for their youngest brother and wearing a Santa hat probably was the smallest thing he could ask them to do. Plus, knowing Pops he’d get a kick out of it.

            “Haha, alright then, what decorations do we need?” Izo asked.

            “Um, we need holy, uh a Christmas tree! We also need garland, I think, for the tree and some decorations for the tree. Mmm, we need mistletoe!” Luffy said, giggling at the last part.

            “Mistletoe? For people to kiss?” Izo asked.

            “Yeah! I remember there being mistletoe at the Christmas parties. People who’d walk under it would have to kiss but Makino only let the people kiss me on the cheek.” Luffy said.

            “Mmm alright then, if that’s everything it shouldn’t be too hard. I believe I have all the supplies.” Izo said.

            “Cool! I have one more stop! Geronimo!” Luffy shouted before jumping into the nearest shadow.

            Luffy’s next destination was back where Marco was. He would have asked what he needed to earlier but he needed to confirm the thing about Christmas parties from Thatch and he couldn’t ask Marco due to his brothers approaching. So he quickly made his way to Marco’s room where he promptly paled when he saw his brother’s talking to him.

            “Where have you been Luffy?!?” Ace asked, panicking.

            “Yeah, why have you been avoiding us?” Sabo asked.

            “No! Not telling, Pineapple I need to borrow you.” Luffy said before grabbing Marco and dragging him into a shadow.

            Luffy then dragged Marco through the shadowy corridor to the one place he knew his brothers wouldn’t look; the infirmary. When he came out with Marco he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the place was empty. He quickly locked the door and sat down.

            “Why did you drag me, yoi. And what is the reason you’ve been avoiding your brothers, yoi?” Marco asked, deciding to sit down as well.

            “I’m planning a surprise Christmas party. I don’t want Ace and Sabo to know.” Luffy said.

            “That actually explains why you want us to head to a winter island, yoi.” Marco mused.

            “Mhm! I want it to be a snowy Christmas! But I need to ask you a few things.” Luffy said.

            “Oh, yoi? And what’s that, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Um, I have two people I want to join us on Christmas for the party.” Luffy said.

            Luffy wasn’t exactly sure how Marco would react to the two people he wanted to join them for Christmas.

            “And they are, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Ah, Grampa Garp and Shanks and his crew?” Luffy asked hopingly.

            Marco’s face went blank at Shanks’ name. It’s not that Marco hated Shanks but the brat always asked him to join his crew. It irritated him to no end. But sadly, he crumpled in resolve when Luffy pulled out the puppy dog eyes card.

            “… Fine. But why your gramps, aren’t you three trying to avoid him?” Marco asked.

            “Ah, um, uh, yes? But no? Gramps wants us to be Marines but we want to be Pirates. But I’m pretty sure if we show him that we’re happy here he’d let us stay. Gramps is weird like that.” Luffy said.

            “Mhm but you do know once I tell him where you are he’ll come right here, yoi.” Marco said.

            “You could tell him that his grandson begs him not to come until Christmas?” Luffy tentatively said.

            “Don’t know if that’ll work but I’ll try, yoi.” Marco said.

            Luffy then looked at the floor and shuffled his feet before asking the last question.

            “How much can you lift?” Luffy asked.

            “What, yoi? That’s an odd question, yoi. But I can lift four hundred and fifty pounds, yoi. Don’t know why you need to know that, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Cool! Thanks!” Luffy said before unlocking the door and running to his room.

            It was there that Luffy found his brothers wallowing on the bed with a sad look on their face. When they saw him they looked at him with a hurt look on their face. It made Luffy’s heart clench but he knew they would love the surprise party.

            “Lu, why have you been avoiding us?” Sabo asked sadly.

            “Yeah have we done something wrong?” Ace asked, almost begging.

            “No! You haven’t. I’m just planning a surprise!” Luffy said before tackling both of the boys on the bed and snuggling up to them.

            The boys smiled and hugged Luffy close to them but Ace still had a question.

            “But why won’t you tell us?” Ace asked.

            “Because, the surprise is for everyone! There’s no point in a surprise if you know. Ace and Sabo are silly.” Luffy mumbled.

            “Won’t you give us a hint?” Sabo asked, now whining instead of being sad.

            “No, like I said, it’s a surprise.” Luffy said.

            Ace and Sabo sighed before letting it go, realizing they won’t get anything out of their little brother. So, they decided to just cuddle with him to make up for the lost time. Soon enough they fell asleep, forgetting about lunch.

            About two weeks later they finally arrived at the Winter island and the deck of the Moby Dick was covered in snow. Of course, Luffy found it funny that any time Ace touched the snow, whether it be feet or hands, it’d melt. Of course it was during that time that they handed out everyone’s Secret Santa. Luffy ended up getting Haruta but decided he would still get gifts for his brothers. Of course, beyond that he knew he had to get gramps a gift and Shanks one too, as they had both agreed to join the crew for Christmas, gramps reluctantly agreeing to wait till Christmas to see them. Luffy then decided he needed to go shopping. So, he made his way down to their treasure, which had steadily grown over the past almost year that they’ve been on the ship. There he started piling Belly into his pocket dimension, deciding that one million Belly would be more than enough. He then made his way to Marco, who he found on deck, talking to Namur.

            “Pineapple! I uh need you to come with me for shopping.” Luffy said.

            “Why not ask your brothers, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Because, I’m also getting them gifts.” Luffy said as if it was obvious.

            “Ah, alright then I guess, yoi. I still have to get my Secret Santa’s gift anyways, yoi.” Marco said.

            So, the two set off, heading into the town on the winter island. The first gift that Luffy wanted to get was Haruta’s since the older boy _was_ his Secret Santa. Looking around Luffy finally managed to find what he wanted in a blacksmith’s store. It was a beautifully engraved sheath for the kind of weapon Haruta used. It had a green dragon that wrapped around the sheath as well as vines all over it. Luffy asked how much the sheathe was and was told five hundred thousand Belly. Luffy happily paid the price and asked for the man to wrap it up. As he walked out of the store Marco commented on the purchase.

            “That’s an expensive gift for your Secret Santa, yoi.” Marco said.

            “I know but it’s my first Christmas with everyone! It’s gotta be perfect.” Luffy said before they headed off again.

            Marco managed to find what he was looking for, a set of new kitchen knives, which ended up allowing Luffy to narrow down the list of who Marco got. Luffy however, managed to find his present for Sabo inside a bookstore. It was there that Luffy purchased a blank journal and had the shopkeeper emboss the cover with the words _‘ASL: S’s Journey’_. The journal ended costing five thousand Belly but the total price was fifteen thousand Belly because Luffy also got Sabo a really fancy pen that he had engraved with _‘ASL: Brothers Forever’_ and came with different colored inks. Of course, once more he had the shopkeep wrap the gifts up.

            “A journal and pen, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Oh, I don’t think we’ve explained any of our dreams. Sabo’s dream is to travel the world and write about it. But he never was able to get a journal, cause they only sold them in High Town.” Luffy said.

            “That’s a nice dream, yoi. What are yours and Ace’s dreams, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Well, Ace’s is his own to tell, but personally I think his dream is slowly coming true. Mine is to become Pirate King! Which is why I can’t really join you guys.” Luffy said.

            Marco nodded, having heard the explanation from Thatch. Marco and Oyaji had been thinking of an idea though to have Luffy as one of them but as his own captain. Which is what Marco brought up next.

            “Me and Pops have thought up a solution to that, yoi. When you do set out to make your crew you could be our seventeenth division, yoi. You’d still be the captain of your crew and your own pirate, but you’d also be part of our crew, yoi.” Marco explained.

            “Hmm, that does sound like a nice idea. As long as I can become Pirate King then sure!” Luffy said, causing Marco to chuckle.

            “Of course, Oyaji doesn’t want to be Pirate King anyways, yoi.” Marco said.

            That confused Luffy a bit, because he had heard that Oyaji was the man closest to One Piece. So why wouldn’t he want to become Pirate King.

            “Why doesn’t he?” Luffy asked.

            “Because, his dream is already happening, yoi. His dream is to have a family and that’s what we are, yoi.” Marco said.

            Luffy smiled at that. It was a really nice dream. They then wandered around a bit more before Luffy spotted something in a window of a clothing store. It was an orange cowboy hat that had red beads on it as well as a happy face and sad face on it. The hat also had a string on it to allow you to hang it around your neck and at the end of the string was a circular patch with a skull. Luffy quickly ran into the store and purchased the hat which costed five thousand Belly like the journal for it. It was perfect for Ace. In the store he also ended up spotting some gloves that had dog design on them. Luffy figured it would be a great gift for his gramps who wore that weird dog hat thing. Luffy also found a really cool black and red jacket that he had to get for Shanks. He got all the presents wrapped up, except for the hat which he had put in a box. On their way back Luffy was whistling Christmas carols all the way.

            Quickly the week passed by and it was suddenly Christmas Day. Such as this that Luffy was the first one to wake up and darted out of the room, not wanting his brothers up yet. After all, he had to make sure that everything was ready. Dashing through the halls he saw the decorations up all over the ship. When he got to the Galley he smiled when he saw Izo sitting there with a pile of Santa hats and wearing one as well as a giant Christmas tree in the center of the room. There wasn’t any food yet because it was really early in the morning and the Christmas foods would be prepared until noon. Izo quickly waved Luffy over after he looked around.

            “Hey there Luffy! I already gave Oyaji his hat and beard. I think he enjoys the beard a bit too much though. Do you want your hat?” Izo asked.

            “Yes! And my brothers as well?” Luffy asked eagerly.

            Izo smiled and handed over three Santa hats. Luffy quickly put on the hat and smiled when it fit on top of the straw hat from Shanks. Luffy then quickly dashed to Marco’s room where he found the man wrapping his Secret Santa gift.

            “Marco! What time did gramps and Shanks say that they’d be here?” Luffy asked, causing the man to look up.

            “Ah, Garp said he’d be here around eight and Shanks around nine, yoi.” Marco said.

            “Cool! That’s in two hours!” Luffy said.

            Luffy then dashed back to his room where he cannonballed onto the bed, jolting his brothers awake.

            “Lu! What the hell was that for?!” Ace shouted.

            “It’s Christmas!” Luffy yelled.

            “And?” Ace asked, as if not believing that was a good enough answer.

            Luffy glared at Ace, causing him to wilt under it. Luffy then quickly turned to Sabo.

            “You understand right Sabo?!” Luffy asked, desperation in his voice.

            “We… don’t really care about Christmas.” Sabo said.

            “S-so you don’t want to celebrate Christmas?” Luffy asked.

            “Not really,” Ace said.

            Luffy’s eyes started to water, causing the two boys to panic.

            “I hate you!” Luffy shouted, throwing the Santa hats at them and running out of the door.

            “Luffy! Wait!” Ace shouted.

            Luffy ran to Whitey’s room and knocked frantically on the door. It opened and she looked down, frowning when she saw Luffy crying.

            “What’s wrong?” She asked.

            “A-a-ace a-and S-s-sabo said they don’t want to celebrate Christmas!” Luffy cried, prompting the woman to pick Luffy up and carry him into her room.

            “Did they actually say that or did you infer it?” She asked, rubbing his back.

            “T-they said it. A-after all I did to plan a p-party they don’t want to!” Luffy sobbed.

            Whitey was really frowning now. She knew the boys would never purposefully harm Luffy but, they didn’t need to actually say that. Especially when everyone could tell that Luffy was ecstatic about Christmas. Elsewhere Ace and Sabo were running through the corridors, trying to find Luffy, clutching the Santa hat to their chests. However, in doing this they ended up running into Marco and landing on their butts.

            “Why are you guys running, yoi?” Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “Luffy ran out of room crying after saying he hated us!” Ace shouted hysterically.

            Luffy couldn’t hate him! Luffy was his little ball of sunshine that made his world brighter, he couldn’t picture his life without him. Marco however narrowed his eyes at the two.

            “What did you do to him, yoi?” Marco asked, a sharp tone in his voice that caused the two to flinch.

            “Luffy woke us by jumping on us. We asked him why he woke us up early and he said it was Christmas.” Sabo said.

            “Long story short it ended with us saying we didn’t plan to celebrate Christmas.” Ace said.

            Both boys flinched back when Marco’s narrowed eyes turned to an outright glare.

            “You two are fucking stupid, yoi. What the hell did you think Luffy’s surprise was, yoi?!” Marco yelled at them.

            “What?” Ace asked, confused.

            “Luffy’s been planning a Christmas party the entire month you idiots, yoi! He was hoping that it’d make you guys happy but no you had to go and ruin it for the kid, yoi!” Marco shouted.

            Instantly guilt welled up in the boys when they realized what they did. Their precious little brother wanted to have a party just to make them happy and they had to go and throw all his plans down the drain. It was no wonder that Luffy started crying.

            “B-b-but we don’t really like Christmas, never had a reason to.” Sabo tried to reason.

            “And? Luffy likes it, yoi. Thatch told me that Luffy had told him that he loved Christmas because it was a time for friends and family, a time where nobody hated him, and a time where no longer felt lonely, yoi. Yet you had to reaffirm that he was lonely because you clearly can’t suck up your dislike for a holiday just to make him happy, yoi.” Marco said, still glaring at them.

            That caused their hearts to shatter and the guilt to double. They really screwed up, didn’t they? They quickly dashed away and started looking for Luffy. Sabo suggested they look in Whitey’s room since hers was the closest after Thatch who was probably preparing breakfast. When they reached Whitey’s room they heard crying behind the door that sounded just like Luffy’s. So, they frantically knocked on the door, hoping to apologize to their little brother. They also quickly put on the Santa hats that Luffy had thrown at them. Sabo was surprised to find that his fit on his top hat which made him choke out in guilt because it made him realize how much effort Luffy had put into the party. The door opened to reveal a glaring and mad Whitey Bay and behind her on her bed a sobbing Luffy.

            “Go away! I hate you!” Luffy shouted at them.

            “I think it’s best if you boys leave.” Whitey said, crossing her arms.

            “Wait! Lu we’re sorry! We didn’t know how much Christmas meant for you!” Ace shouted.

            “Yeah! We’ve never had any good times with the holiday! As you know my parents weren’t the best and Christmas was always pure grandstanding with them.” Sabo yelled.

            “And I never celebrated Christmas to begin with! I mean Dadan and the bandits don’t celebrate it really!” Ace yelled.

            Luffy’s sobs seemed to be slowly going away and down to sniffles. Luffy looked at them with reddened eyes that made their hearts clench again. Ace then said something that he knew would make his brother happy.

            “Lu! We’ll celebrate it with you, we swear!” Ace shouted.

            It had its desired effect rather instantaneously. Luffy perked up and only sniffled a tiny bit before launching himself at the brothers, Whitey stepping to the side.

            “You’ll do it?! You’ll play with me in the snow, go around singing carols with me, and open presents?” Luffy asked eagerly.

            Inwardly Ace and Sabo groaned, mostly about the carols part. But this was their little brother and they had a lot to make up for. So they nodded, causing their hearts to soar when Luffy cheered. Whitey however, was not done with them. She separated Luffy from them and crouched down to their eye level and glared at them.

            “ _If you hurt him again I will personally tie you up to the side of the boat and won’t let you up until he forgives you, got it?_ ” She whispered in a tone that brokered no objections.

            The boys nodded quickly, grabbed Luffy, and ran out of the room with Luffy in tow. Of course once they were out, it was Luffy who dragged them around. They went from room to room, singing Christmas carols to everyone to wake them up. Thankfully, instead of glaring at them for waking them up they all smiled at the three kids and wished them a Merry Christmas. After finishing a carol they would tell everyone that they could get their Santa hats in the galley and that each person had their own hat. Of course when it was nearing eight o’ clock Luffy dragged them up to the deck where they waited on there with Marco.

            “Why are we waiting here?” Ace asked.

            “Gramps and Shanks are coming over!” Luffy said happily, although Ace and Sabo froze.

            “You invited shitty gramps?!” Ace shouted.

            “Yeah! Gramps is really nice on Christmas.” Luffy said with a smile.

            The two boys couldn’t really believe it. From their experience with Garp the man was never nice (read: never not hitting them with Fists of Love). But they had screwed up earlier today so they just kept their mouths shut and waited with Luffy. Soon enough a Marine ship pulled up and on the ship was none other than Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and some guy with black hair wearing a sleeping mask on his head and casual clothes consisting of a Christmas sweater and pants but a Marine coat around his shoulders. Marco seemed to have a confused and mad look on his face.

            “Garp, yoi! Why did you bring an Admiral with you, yoi?” Marco demanded.

            “Bwahahah! Cool it bird boy. Kuzan here wanted to meet my grandson. You’ll find the man’s sense of Justice is a lot different than that bastard Sakazuki.” Garp said.

            “Excuse me for interrupting but, I’m here actually on a personal matter, hence my desire to see Monkey D. Luffy. So please bear with me.” Kuzan said, bowing.

            “Wha? You wanna see me?” Luffy asked confused.

            “Yes, I actually have a few questions for you. Those will decide my decision.” Kuzan said.

            Marco and the three boys were confused. Why would an Admiral want to talk to Luffy of all people? Garp however knew what Kuzan wanted to ask, having been told earlier.

            “What decision, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “My decision of whether or not to quit the Marines and turn my back against the World Government.” Kuzan declared, shocking everyone but Garp.

            “W-what? You’re going to rely on answers from Luffy to decide something like that?” Ace asked.

            “Yes, after all, he is the holder of the Yami Yami no Mi, one of the Six Judgements.” Kuzan said.

            Once again everyone was shocked, this time including Garp. Kuzan hadn’t told Garp that his grandson had eaten a Devil Fruit and a fruit that’s considered a Mythical Logia at that.

            “How do you know that, yoi?” Marco demanded.

            “Oh my, you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice when Sakazuki came back with _fire_ powers instead of _magma_?” Kuzan asked.

            “How do you even know of the fruit’s ability to do that?” Sabo asked, causing Kuzan to sigh.

            “Ever since I ate my fruit and heard the voice that came with it I’ve researched the Six Judgements. I’ve known for a long time that if someone was found worthy of Darkness they can take devil fruits from living people.” Kuzan explained, sitting cross legged on the edge of the Marine ship.

            Boy, was everyone getting shocked a lot today. They didn’t actually think that any of the Admirals would be found worthy of the Judgements. Luffy however, had only known about Akainu’s devil fruit, since the man was talked about in fear.

            “What fruit do you have?” Luffy asked.

            “I have the Hie Hie no Mi, the Ice Devil Fruit. Now would you answer my questions?” Kuzan asked.

            “Sure, why not!” Luffy said eagerly, making the man smile.

            “Alright then, what do you think of Justice?” He asked.

            “Justice? Uh? I mean, it’s nice and all but, Justice is based on who you are and your opinions. Your own version of Justice could be considered cruel and mean to other people. Personally, I think that Justice can be inherently corrupt _because_ it’s based on opinion rather than world-wide belief.” Luffy said, thinking really hard.

            Luffy’s answer seemed to be the correct one because Kuzan just smiled and nodded before moving on.

            “Alright, what do you think of the Marines?” Kuzan asked.

            “Ah, the same as Justice. They’re inherently corrupt because they have to answer to the World Government, an organization that panders to the whims of the Celestial Dragons. Celestial Dragons, who are people who believe them above others and actively practice slavery. Sure there are nice Marines like gramps but… you’re still forced to listen to the World Government.” Luffy said.

            “But, couldn’t you say that Pirates are corrupt too?” Kuzan asked.

            “Mmm, not exactly. Where the Marines are a group, Pirates are individuals. Not all pirates are bad and not all are good. Take Oyaji for example, he just wants a family and he protects a lot of territories from other pirates. But then take someone like Kaido for example who wants nothing but bloodshed.” Luffy said.

            Luffy had heard of Kaido during one of his story times with Oyaji. The man was nightmare-fuel worthy.

            “Then what would you have the citizens of the world do? If they can’t trust the Marines, then who should they trust?” Kuan asked.

            “Well, I’d say the good pirates but that’s not exactly the best answer. To be honest, they need to stop expecting the Marines to solve everything for them. There won’t be any good until the World Government, no the Celestial Dragons are gone. Without the root of the corruption gone, the Marines will be forever unable to truly help.” Luffy said.

            Kuzan seemed to look over Luffy for a few minutes before giving a smile and a sigh of relief.

            “Well, I’ve made my decision.” Kuzan said before grabbing a hold of his Marine Admiral coat.

            Marco, Ace, and Sabo readied themselves, expecting a battle. But were shocked when the man took the coat and threw it over to Garp.

            “Consider this my resignation Garp. I’m going to put my trust in this generation. And, Monkey D. Luffy.” Kuzan said before turning to Luffy.

            “Yeeees?” Luffy asked.

            Kuzan started walking off the edge of the ship, ice suddenly materializing, making a bridge between the ships. He then kneeled in front of Luffy.

            “When you start your journey, I will be honored to go with you as a member of your crew.” Kuzan said, causing everyone to gap in shock.

            “Of course, shishishi! You’re welcome on my crew!” Luffy said in glee.

            Luffy had just gained his first crew member, and it was none other than a former Marine Admiral. Marco shuddered, realizing that it was because of that kid’s charisma. If Luffy had the charisma to influence an Admiral, just how far could he go. Of course, soon after that Shanks arrived with his crew which caused Luffy to drag Kuzan over, the man smiling at the boy’s eagerness.

            “Uh, Luffy, why are you dragging an Admiral behind you?” Shanks asked, raising an eyebrow.

            “He’s my first crew member!” Luffy said, causing Shanks to laugh at him.

            “An Admiral? Your first crew member? You’re funny Anchor.” Shanks said.

            “Actually, he’s telling the truth. I resigned and agreed to join Luffy here when he starts his journey.” Kuzan said, laughing at the Yonko’s shock.

            Shanks walked over to his First Mate and groaned.

            “Benn, I must still be drunk. Please tell me an Admiral didn’t agree to join Anchor’s crew.” Shanks begged.

            “Sorry Cap’n but it’s true.” Benn said, getting a kick out of his captain’s misery.

            “Ugh! Seriously Anchor, you and your luck.” Shanks said throwing his hands up.

            Everyone chatted for a while before Luffy started a snowball fight. Said snowball fight would have been one sided thanks to Ace’s immunity to snowballs but Kuzan evened the fight by throwing snowballs generated by his Hie Hie No Mi. Those snowballs managed to actually hit Ace and make him shiver. It ended up being an all-out snowball war where Ace and Kuzan were leading the charge against each other. It got to the point that Ace tried to throw a magma ball but Kuzan quickly dumped a whole lot of Hie Hie enhanced snow on him. Soon enough though it was time for the Christmas Feast so everyone headed inside. Luffy dashed to Whitey’s room where he retrieved his presents for everyone, Whitey having allowed him to hide them in her stash. Luffy then rushed to the galley where Ace and Sabo had saved him a seat. Sitting at the same table was Kuzan, Shanks, Garp, and Marco.

            “So, kids I thought I told you guys to become Marines and here you are Pirates.” Garp said.

            “But gramps! We’re happy here.” Luffy said with a smile.

            “You could have been happy at Dawn Island.” Garp retorted.

            “No we couldn’t have. We ended up here after they saved Luffy from being killed by pirates. Plus, everyone here would do almost anything for us, although it’s mostly Luffy they’d do almost anything for.” Sabo said.

            Garp seemed to get angry but held his anger in. After all, it was Christmas. It was a time to be happy, not get angry and lash out.

            “Who were these pirates?” Garp asked.

            “They said they were the Bluejam Pirates.” Ace said.

            “They also said they were working for the Nobles.” Luffy mumbled.

            Everyone turned to Luffy. Ace and Sabo hadn’t known that or mentioned that to anyone.

            “How did you know that Lu? We didn’t.” Ace said.

            “They told me while they were torturing me. The guy said the Nobles had hired them to set fire to the Grey Terminal and kill all those people.” Luffy said.

            “Why didn’t you say anything?” Sabo asked, not wanting to accuse Luffy of anything.

            “Because they said they’d do it in three days which meant that it was already done by the time I woke up.” Luffy muttered.

            That did explain why Luffy didn’t tell them. There wasn’t a point in saying anything if it had already happened. Soon however the conversation devolved into Shanks telling stories of Luffy. One of them included the story of how Luffy got the scar under his eye. Ace, Sabo, and Marco were scolding him while the others were laughing at him. Soon enough though it was present time and Luffy had the Commanders gather in a circle. Luffy then handed each of them a black box. When they all opened it, it revealed a black bracelet in each of them but each bracelet had a different number on it. Luffy quickly explained what the bracelets were which caused them to hug the boy and thank him. Of course, Vista wanted to know how Luffy knew what number to set their bracelets to.

            “Why do you think I was asking you guys how much you could lift?” Luffy asked.

            Then it moved on to the Secret Santa exchange. Marco, it turned out, got Thatch and said man was very pleased at the new knives. Luffy got a big hug from Haruta when he gave the older boy his gift. It turned out that Oyaji himself had Luffy. His gift to Luffy was a book on how to repair a straw hat as well as some materials for it. Luffy was really happy for that gift. Ace had gotten Vista and gotten the man some sharpening stones for his sword. Sabo got Whitey and had somehow got her a rare bottle of wine, which she loved. After the Secret Santa was done Luffy gave Ace his gift first.

            “I uh found this in a store, thought you might like it.” Luffy said, handing Ace the box.

            Ace opened it up and smiled when he saw the hat. He instantly took off the Santa hat and put it on, showing everyone. It made Ace look roguish, especially since he had recently taken to not wearing shirts because of the additional heat the Magu Magu No Mi gave him.

            “I love it Lu! I’m sorry I didn’t get you a gift.” Ace said.

            “It’s alright I’m just happy you like it. Though… if you really want to get me a gift then let me celebrate your birthday.” Luffy said with a mischievous smile.

            Sabo smirked as well while Ace groaned. Ace really didn’t like his birthday but when Luffy turned those puppy dog eyes on him Ace relented.

            “Fine, you can celebrate my birthday but it needs to be small! I don’t want a big party.” Ace said.

            “Okay! Then it can be just a party between me, you, and Sabo!” Luffy said.

            “That’s perfect then,” Ace said with a smile.

            Luffy then gave Sabo his gift to him. When Sabo opened it he shouted in glee and hugged his brother close, thanking him repeatedly.

            “What is it kid?” Shanks asked.

            “It’s a journal and pen to record my journeys around the world. It’s my dream to record my story.” Sabo said with a smile.

            The next gift was for his gramps. When the man saw the gloves, he barked out a laugh and instantly put them on. He then lamented the fact that he hadn’t brought his dog mask with him. Luffy then handed Shanks his gift. Shanks smiled when he saw the new coat. Of course, his first mate had to butt in.

            “That’s a perfect gift for you Cap’n. You can only repair a coat so much after it gets ripped by Mihawk.” Benn said with a chuckle, causing Shanks to blush.

            “It’s not my fault Mihawk’s stab-happy.” Shanks retorted.

            “Yes it is Cap’n, since you’re the one who eggs him into dueling you.” Lucky Roo said.

            That caused Shanks to pout. The rest of the day went wonderfully, with everyone playing around in the snow, Garp’s Marine underlings joining in at one point. When gramps and Shanks left, Kuzan decided to stay, wanting to see Luffy grow up and be able to leave with him when he left for his journey. Overall for Luffy, today was the best day of his life, next to his last birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, first and foremost some of you may be wondering, why Kuzan. Well, in my mind, Kuzan is the most reasonable and likeable Marine Admiral. While it may seem too simple in the way that he’s joining Luffy, it’s not. Kuzan’s choosing to put his faith in Luffy. Now, you won’t see Kuzan much during the next few chapters because at most times he’ll be on another ship just in case the other Admirals decide to attack him for betraying them. If you do see him then he’s there visiting everyone else and making a report. Next, the timing with the burning of Gray Terminal. I know that it was supposed to happen months after Luffy gets tortured but I pushed it forward to give Luffy a motive to stay away, not that torture isn’t a pretty good motive. Also I can picture Celestial Dragons being those kinds of people who freaking show up early when they’re expected much later. Don’t you hate those kinds of people? Anyways, I need more suggestions for what to happen! Next chapter covers Ace’s birthday, a small trip somewhere, and an incident that gets the trio temporarily stranded in the Calm Belt (make of what that you will). After that is a time skip I believe where I introduce Law. Now, what should I do? Should I sometime later have Luffy go to Alabasta and befriend Vivi… or what? I don’t want to go to Nami just yet because, one her mom’s already dead by then, and two she needs to develop her dream. She didn’t really develop her dream to map the world until years into her imprisonment, I’m assuming, as it seems like a dream for freedom. I could go to Zoro but at this point anyone Luffy runs into early will end up getting dragged by him onto the Moby Dick and join him early. I can’t do Zoro until later because he’s still training. Decisions, decisions. Anyways! I will love your suggestions and try to implement them if I think I can make it work.


	7. A Birthday, Vehicles, and Islands, Oh My!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 7 of TSABL! This chapter covers three events. One, Ace’s birthday, two a trip to somewhere in the Grand Line, and three an incident that separates the trio from the Whitebeard Pirates. Don’t worry about the last bit, it’s resolved by the end of the chapter. We’re getting closer and closer to me not having any chapters! TT That means I need to dedicate a week to writing up more chapters for this story. Decisions isn’t going to be posted today unless I can write a whole chapter plus another today. Donquixote also needs more chapters posted… With this story I need a definitive timeline and from how difficult it’s getting writing more chapters I’m going to be quickly making my way to canon timeline. If you guys actually want Brook to join Luffy then I’ll have to do it before twelve because when Luffy’s twelve Brook gets his shadow stolen. I’ll discuss this more at the end of the chapter anyways enjoy!

            As usual with a birthday party there’s planning. However, because it was Ace’s birthday and he wanted a party just between the three of them, Sabo was having some problems. Thankfully though, Luffy was the better party planner of the three of them. Luffy absolutely loved parties so Sabo guessed it made sense that their little brother was party savvy. So, what Luffy had Sabo and himself do was compile a list of things that their big brother liked. The first thing they put on that list was beaches. Sabo was the one that put it on the list. From his memories of before Luffy popping up in their life, Ace had loved going to the beach. He loved to feel the grains of sand on his feet and stand in the water. Of course, that clinched it for Luffy so he circled it as the location for the party. Next, they needed games they could play. Luffy suggested volleyball because that was a game played at beaches, right? However, there was a problem with that, sure, volleyball _could_ be played one versus one but, there were three of them. So, Sabo suggested that they play games when one of them loses the one not playing takes the loser’s place.

            Of course, Luffy said that there couldn’t be just one type of game at the party for the three of them. Sabo hesitantly offered playing in the sand and making sand castles and the such. The reason being, neither Sabo or Ace having ever done that. Sabo because his family deemed playing in sand to be for commoners. Ace because, well he lived on a mountain his whole life and only visited the beach rarely. Luffy however, just smiled and gleefully put it on the list. Next would be the food, Sabo said that he had already asked Thatch to make the biggest picnic basket he could with a large blanket as well. So that was already done.

            Now, concerning the cake Sabo had an idea at first. It was to make a volcano-like cake for their big brother but Luffy quickly turned it down, confusing Sabo.

            “Why not the volcano cake?” Sabo asked.

            “Because! I already asked for a very specific cake from Thatch. Ace’ll love it!” Luffy said with a smile.

            “Alright… if you say so.” Sabo said, trusting in his little brother.

            So, with everything set they knew that they had to get their brother gifts. Even though on Ace’s birthday it’d have been roughly a week after Christmas, they still needed to get him gifts. Luffy already had an idea of what he wanted to get Ace, although it was technically a gift to all of them. He wanted to get a three-piece necklace thing, you know the ones that connect together to form something? Yeah that. He wanted to get one that had their initials on each piece so it could form ASL and each of them would carry their initials. Sabo, however wasn’t exactly sure what to get his older brother by like two months. Ace didn’t want for much and while Luffy’s idea was good, Sabo didn’t want to copy him. Then, Sabo thought of something. He had noticed that Ace had been going through pipes like matches because they weren’t immune to his magma, as the magma would quickly melt the pipe. So Sabo decided he would get Ace a pipe made out of Carbon, something he had read that had a melting point of over six thousand degrees which was way higher than magma’s temperature. Thankfully, Carbon wasn’t expensive, it was rather cheap. It was its allotropic form that was rather expensive, which was Diamond.

            Of course, getting it made was a rather tedious problem. For Luffy to get his necklace all he needed to do is ask Izo because the crossdresser could make jewelry. Sabo, however, had to first purchase a kilo of carbon, which was very difficult, and then make his way to a blacksmith. He then had to ask the blacksmith, quite awkwardly if he might add, to forget a pipe from it. The blacksmith had given the boy an odd look but agreed, since he was being paid for it. After it was said and done, Sabo had a dark grey pipe made out of carbon. While Sabo was getting this all done Luffy had the job of, once again, asking Marco to make a stop on Ace’s birthday at an island with a nice beach. Of course, Marco agreed because he couldn’t exactly say no to Luffy’s begging eyes. Thus, everything was set for January 1st.

            Ace woke up on the morning of his birthday to two smiling faces.

            “Happy birthday Ace!” Sabo and Luffy shouted, both of them giving Ace a kiss on opposing cheeks.

            Ace blushed red from the kisses but then smiled lightly and hugged the two of them.

            “So, I’m afraid to ask but what do you two have planned for my birthday? It is just you two, right?” Ace asked.

            “Yup! But we’re not telling you, it’s a surprise.” Luffy said.

            “Yeah, our lips are sealed.” Sabo confirmed.

            Ace just sighed and got up, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer out of his brothers. He strolled over to their shared dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, sliding them on, before putting on his boots. After his brothers got dressed, the trio made their way to the galley. On the way there Ace was met with plenty of smiles but thankfully no happy birthdays. Like Ace had said before, he wasn’t exactly fond of his birthday, but since his two brothers wanted to celebrate it with him he’d celebrate it, but only with them. However, when they reached the galley Ace was met by Thatch.

            “Happy birthday! Oh Luffy, I got the foodstuff you need for when we get to the island.” Thatch said.

            Ace rolled his eyes but Luffy looked excited and thanked the man. What could they possibly have planned for today? It was starting to make him really curious. Nevertheless, Ace wandered over to the table and started piling pancakes, sausage, and bacon onto his plate. In the corner of his eye Ace spotted Luffy and Sabo accepting a bundle of something from Izo. He however, ignored it in favor of the delicious food in front of him. Ace had figured that Thatch was spoiling him today because there were a lot of chocolate items at the table which is why his pancakes were currently doused in chocolate. If there was one thing that Ace loved more than meat, a like that he shared with Lu, it was chocolate. Growing up with the bandits there was a lack of sweet items, however, one day Makino had bought him a chocolate bar and he was instantly hooked. When Sabo and Luffy came over with their food, Sabo just shook his head and laughed at the amount of chocolate on Ace’s plate.

            “You know, I picture you one day dying a death of drowning by chocolate.” Sabo said with a chuckle.

            “Mmmm that’d be a wonderful way to die.” Ace said as he moaned after taking a bite of a chocolate covered pancake.

            “Shishishi! Ace is silly.” Luffy said, laughing.

            “You have no room to talk Lu, if there’s anything you like more than meat it’s white chocolate.” Ace said, giving Luffy a look.

            Luffy blushed and looked away pouting. It wasn’t his fault that he liked it! It was really sweet and delicious! If he could have white chocolate covered meat he’d be in heaven but whenever he suggested it to his brothers, they vehemently said no. Actually, it was odd because all three’s favorite type of sweet was a chocolate, even if white chocolate couldn’t be considered a chocolate really. Ace loved milk chocolate, well any chocolate that wasn’t bitter. Luffy absolutely loved white chocolate to the point that the boys had to drag him out of sweet store to prevent him from buying everything. Sabo, however, loved dark chocolate, the more bitter the better.

            Soon enough though they finished eating, Luffy shoved a bundle into Ace’s arms. Ace looked at it and saw that it was a pair of black swim trunks with flames along the sides.

            “Swim trunks?” Ace asked confused.

            “Shoo! Go put them on.” Sabo said, pushing Ace towards their bedroom.

            There Ace reluctantly took off his pants and underwear and put on the swim trunks. When he turned around he saw that his brothers were in swim trunks as well. Luffy’s was white with black clouds and Sabo’s was purple with small pictures of his top hat and goggles all over it. However, when he saw Luffy’s bare chest he glared at it. He glared because he could see reminders of Luffy being tortured. Jagged scars were littered all over his little brother’s body. Ace however, quickly shook that out of his mind. After all he didn’t want to make Lu uncomfortable after all. Afterwards there was a knock at the door before it opened, revealing Marco.

            “We’re here, yoi. Don’t forget to grab the stuff from Thatch, yoi.” Marco said before leaving.

            The two brothers grabbed Ace and dragged him to the galley where Thatch was waiting with a really large picnic basket and a large, cake shaped box. Sabo grabbed the box while Luffy grabbed the picnic basket. They then dragged Ace up to the deck where he could finally see the island. It was a tropical island with a forest and palm trees but he couldn’t really see why he was here. The two brothers however just dragged him off the ship and started taking him around the side of the island. It wasn’t until something came into sight that he understood why his brothers had taken him to this island. In his line of sight was a beautiful beach that was connected to gorgeously blue waters. Now he understood what the surprise was, it was a day at the beach, something that Sabo must have come up with considering Luffy hadn’t known. The boys dragged him to the middle of the beach where Luffy set down the basket and opened it, pulling a large blanket out. Luffy then, with Sabo’s help, put the blanket on the sand. Luffy afterwards turned to Sabo.

            “Sabo help me with this pleeeease.” Luffy begged.

            ‘ _Help Lu with what?’_ Ace thought, confused.

            It was when he saw Luffy dip his arm into the air, his arm disappearing into an invisible hole. It was always really weird looking when Luffy accessed his pocket dimension. Luffy started to pull out two large metal poles that Sabo helped Luffy take out. When the item was fully revealed Ace saw that it had a large net attached to the end. His confusion was eased when he saw the two put the thing up. It was a volleyball net. Luffy then once again dived into his pocket dimension and pulled out a volleyball, setting it down next to the net. After that he pulled out a few buckets and tiny shovels, which confused Ace. Then Luffy pulled out bottle of sunscreen and two boxes, which Ace guessed to be his presents.

            “What are the buckets for?” Ace said, having to ask.

            “To make sand castles silly!” Luffy said, giggling.

            “Oh.” Ace said, interested, having never done that really.

            Of course, Luffy then pulled out one last thing, a pair of floaties. Ace really wanted to laugh at that but wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be nice to his little brother at all because it definitely wasn’t his fault he couldn’t swim, even if he did have an immunity to the sea weakness that Devil Fruit users normally had. Though, Ace _was_ thankful that he could swim or that would be really embarrassing. Luffy then immediately put on the floaties and ran out to the water, yelling at his brothers to join him. Ace and Sabo smiled at each other and ran into the water with Luffy. Ace had to lock down his control on his powers because otherwise he’d forming steam or land and that’d be no good. The three boys swam in the water, playing and laughing and occasionally having water fights.

They did this for about thirty minutes before they got out, Ace drying them so that they wouldn’t get sand stuck to them. Luffy then started making sand castles, Sabo and Ace joining in soon after. The boys had a lot of fun competing with sand castles. Luffy’s sand castle was reminiscent of Makino’s Bar, as much as Luffy could make it. Sabo’s sand castle was made to look like the Moby Dick, of course he couldn’t make the masts because the sand would just fall down. Ace’s sand castle was made to look the Mountain Bandits’ place. After that they were hungry so they laid out the food and dug in. It didn’t take long for them to finish eating. Ace wanted to see the cake but Luffy said that presents had to come first.

            “Can’t we have cake first, it _is_ my birthday.” Ace said, pouting.

            “Yes but the cake’s special! It needs to go last.” Luffy said.

            Ace sighed and mournfully looked at the box holding the cake before relenting to Luffy’s request. Sabo handed Ace his gift first which Ace promptly opened. He had a confused look on his face when he found a grayish-black pipe. So, Sabo explained to him the point of the gift.

            “It’s made out of Carbon. Which means it won’t melt from your magma.” Sabo said.

            “It’s perfect then! Now I won’t be yelled at for melting pipes.” Ace said, hugging Sabo.

            Ace then opened Luffy’s gift to him and was once again confused when he saw three different necklaces that seemed to connect to each other and spelled _ASL._

“It’s so that we’re always with each other. There’s one for each of us.” Luffy said, causing Ace to hug the boy and promptly put on his A piece, Luffy and Sabo following.

            “Now can we eat the cake?” Ace asked.

            “Yup!” Luffy said.

            When Luffy opened the box, Ace ended up choking out a sob. The cake was perfect, it was a triple chocolate cake but that wasn’t why Ace was sobbing. Etched out in different colors of icing was an image of the three of them with Sabo and Luffy hugging Ace and giving him a kiss on opposite cheeks. At the bottom of the cake were the words in icing _‘Happy Birthday Ace! We’re glad that you’re alive’_. Ace weaved around the cake and tackled Luffy to the ground, crying into his chest. Sabo was shocked as well at the cake because it _was_ perfect for Ace. For someone like him who believed that he didn’t deserve to be alive it was a blessing. Luffy just held Ace to him as his older brother was repeatedly sobbing “Thank you” into his chest. Ace lasted like that for about five minutes before the sobs died down and he sat up and pulled Luffy into a tight hug, burying his face into Luffy’s hair.

            “I love you Lu, you’re the best brother ever. I really don’t deserve you.” Ace mumbled.

            “Of course, Ace deserves me. Ace deserves to be happy.” Luffy said, causing Ace to once again blink back tears.

            “Come on you two crybabies let’s eat.” Sabo joked.

            Ace sniffled and looked at the cake with a fond smile.

            “I don’t know if I want to eat it now, I want to keep it like this forever.” Ace murmured.

            “Don’t worry about that Ace! I made sure Thatch took a picture of it.” Luffy said, causing his big brother to smile at him.

            They then quickly dug into the cake, Ace once more moaning when he took a bite of the chocolate. It was safe to say that the cake quickly disappeared. Afterwards they started playing with the volleyball. The first match was between Ace and Sabo but Sabo ended up losing because Ace was too good at doing spikes. So then it was Ace versus Luffy where Ace lost quite horribly because Luffy was using his gravity powers to make the game in his favor. Of course, Ace declared that cheating but Luffy stuck his tongue out and said it was never in the rules that he couldn’t use his powers. Ace looked like he was about to retaliate with his Logia powers but Sabo quickly put a stop to it. After all, the volleyball _was not_ magma proof. So, they just made an addendum that they couldn’t use their powers. It was actually during this that they realized that they were used to the gravity enforced by the Grav Locks, which meant it was time for them to upgrade. After a few more games they packed up everything and then Luffy presented them with their new bracelets. Ace and Sabo were both now at two and Luffy was at four point two. Luffy’s jump was bigger because well you know weight is mass times gravity and all that stuff and Luffy’s mass wasn’t as much as his brother’s. With their increased gravity, they slowly made their way back to the Moby Dick. Everybody on the ship just raised an eyebrow at it and continued to work.

            Two months after Ace’s birthday Ace had come up with an idea for a raft that he could use to travel with his brothers that functioned on his Magu Magu No Mi’s ability to generate heat. Of course to be honest the idea came from Luffy who had told them about geothermic energy. Ace, obviously, was confused when Luffy said that word so Lu, for the first time, had to dumb it down for his big brother. Luffy explained to Ace that you could generate energy from heat. That gave Ace the idea to have a raft created that had an engine that ran on that kind of energy. Which in turn gave Luffy an idea to do the same thing but instead an engine that ran on kinetic energy from his gravity. This resulted in Ace and Luffy begging Pops and Marco to take them to Water 7. When they got there Marco had Kuzan escort the trio with their treasure chest to Galley-La. It was there that they found only one person, who happened to be the mayor of Water 7, Iceburg.

            “What’s three kids who seem to be with Whitebeard doing with an Admiral?” The man asked.

            “Former Admiral, and these brothers are here to ask about getting rafts designed here.” Kuzan said, pushing Ace and Luffy forward.

            Iceburg then noticed that the boys each had a sheaf of paper while the third boy who wasn’t pushed forward was carrying what seemed to be a large heavy treasure chest. The man then looked at Kuzan.

            “Former? So you resigned to join pirates?” Iceburg asked.

            “Well, to be honest I resigned to join that little one, putting my faith in the next generation and all that.” Kuzan said lazily, pointing at Luffy.

            Iceburg however, laughed and smiled at Kuzan.

            “Faith in the next generation eh? Sounds great. Now you said rafts? Don’t you know we do ships?” Iceburg asked.

            “Yeah! But we think you might like to try your hand at these!” Luffy said, giving the man the papers, Ace doing the same.

            Iceburg walked over to the nearest workshop table and rolled out the suggested blueprints. He took a look at Luffy’s first and began scanning them. The former Admiral may have said rafts but they were more like tiny boats. Overall Iceburg was shocked. The idea that was presented by the blueprints were pretty good. With a few modifications and tweaks it’d be perfect. He then looked at Ace’s and they were great like the other set of blueprints. Of course, they weren’t complete blueprints, as neither boy knew how to completely do something like that. Iceburg could also see the tiny comments written on each one, with some comments in the other’s handwriting. Like how on one sheet there was a crossed out design of a small surfboard looking raft with the words ‘ _Ace that’s stupid, you did say this was for all of us to ride, we’d end up flying off this.’_. The final designs the boys ended up making looked like small raft-like boats, basically rafts that had high edges so nobody could go flying off the thing, and in the middle was a pole that would be connected to the motor. Of course, at the top of the pole was a place for a flag which Iceburg chuckled at for the cuteness as well as room for a sail below it. Both vehicles seemed to be designed to seat five to six people. The man then turned around and faced them with a serious look.

            “Overall the designs are sound, a few adjustments will need to be made but it’s doable. Also, I agree with your little brother’s comment that the first design was stupid.” Iceburg said, chuckling at Ace’s blush and Luffy’s laugh.

            “Hey! They’re not that stupid!” Ace said.

            “Kid, had you actually had passengers on the raft then the second you started the engine they’d go flying off. It would have been a good idea as a one-man raft but if you’re intending for passengers then it’s a bad idea.” Iceburg said.

            That made Ace blush and sheepishly rub the back of his head. Sabo however stepped forward to ask a question.

            “So uh, how much is it going to cost?” Sabo asked.

            “Well, normally a ship is a hundred and fifty million Belly. But since yours is the equivalent of a raft-like boat then the price is severely reduced. Considering it’s an engine based, they’ll be about two million Belly a piece, totaling to four million Belly.” Iceburg estimated.

            The boys let out a breath of relief nodding at each other.

            “Uh, can you help us get that much out of here?” Sabo asked, pleadingly.

            Iceburg chuckled and went over to them helped them gather up the needed Belly from the chest. The man was shocked when he saw how much the three kids had, because the amount had to be around sixty five million. While they were gathering the money Iceburg had to bring up a problem with the little kid’s design.

            “You do know the boat won’t go that fast, right? Normal gravity doesn’t provide enough energy for it.” Iceburg said.

            However, the kid just smiled at him.

            “Don’t worry! I can manipulate gravity, it’s why I asked for the motor to be able to withstand strong amounts of weight and pressure.” Luffy said happily.

            “Devil Fruit user?” Iceburg asked.

            “Mhm!” Luffy said with a smile.

            Well, that did explain why the kid wanted a gravity-powered engine. That made him believe the kid with the orange cowboy hat was one as well. Because asking for an engine that ran on heat and everything made of carbon didn’t make sense otherwise. So, after taking the required money the man stood up.

            “Alright, it should be done in about a week, come back then.” Iceburg said with a smile.

            The kids and Kuzan departed after that, making their way back to the Moby Dick. For the next week, everyone spent time hanging around Water 7 while they waited for Ace’s and Luffy’s vehicles to be finished. Time passed quickly as it was soon time for them to pick up the vehicles. When they got to Dock One, their eyes widened when they saw their vehicles. Ace’s looked similar to his first design but was much bigger to where it resembled a canoe. What he really loved was the pirate flag that was attached to the top. It was a skull and crossbones with his hat on it (with only the smiley face and sad face), and pouring from the top of the hat was magma. The whole thing was imposed over a large red spade icon. The pirate flag was what Ace would have wanted if he didn’t plan to join the Whitebeard Pirates when he got older. Luffy’s vehicle was like Ace’s but instead of yellow it was a dark purple and his flag was much different. The pirate flag consisted of a skull with his straw hat on it and the skull was positioned on a cross made out of bones. Surrounding the skull was a four-sectioned circle made of bones with each bone crossing over a part of the cross.

            “Do you kids need help taking those to the ocean?” Iceburg asked.

            “Nope, but thank you for your work!” Ace and Luffy said, bowing, Sabo bowing as well.

            “No problem! It was fun working on them.” Iceburg said, waving them goodbye.

            Luffy and Ace each picked up their vehicles, Luffy reducing the weight of both of them to practically nothing, shocking Iceburg and everyone who saw them carrying them to the ocean. From there Luffy levitated them onto the ship where everyone ooh’ed and ahh’ed over them. Everyone wanted to know what the two had named their ships. Ace replied that he named his Striker and Luffy said that he named his Accelerator.

            It would turn out that the vehicles would end up coming in handy about a month later when Marines attacked the ship with three Vice Admirals, more than likely after Kuzan. Of course, the three brothers were fighting with everyone on the deck but then the Vice Admirals converged on them. That prompted Marco to step in front of them and shout for them to go.

            “Go! Get off the ship! These guys are too strong for you! We’ll find you later!” Marco shouted, blocking three different strikes by using Busoshoku Haki.

The boys tried to complain but Marco gave them a look so they complied. Ace and Luffy grabbed their vehicles and threw them into the water and then jumped on, Sabo jumping onto Ace’s. As they were about to speed away, a marine jumped onto Luffy’s boat and was about to attack them. With a mental nudge in Luffy’s head he thrusted his hand at the man, his hand sinking in. As the voice guided him Luffy clutched at something and pulled it out, revealing a green gem the size of a small ball. Suddenly the man started to age rapidly before dying, his body falling off Accelerator after. Quickly, Ace and Luffy stepped up to the main ‘seat’ of their vehicles and began to activate the engines, causing the boats to start speeding off.

            “Please be safe!” The three shouted as they got out of view.

            About thirty minutes later the boys noticed something odd. There was absolutely no wind and the skies were completely calm. A horrified look appeared on Sabo’s face.

            “G-guys I think we’re in the Calm Belt.” Sabo said.

            “What does that mean?” Ace asked.

            “It means we’re probably surrounded by Sea Kings.” Sabo said before looking to Luffy for confirmation with his Kenbunshoku Haki.

            Luffy concentrated real hard on hearing the ‘voices’ around them before nodding but with a confused look on his face.

            “We’re surrounded by like fifty different voices, but…” Luffy said.

            “But what?” Ace asked nervously, never having faced this many Sea Kings, hell he could barely fight two as it seemed Sea Kings were resistant enough to magma for it to be difficult.

            Of course, Ace had only ever fought sea tiger-type Sea Kings which were aggressive pieces of shit.

            “They don’t sound aggressive. They sound… curious.” Luffy said.

            Sure enough, the head of a sea serpent-type Sea King rose up a little bit out of the water, staring at them. It tilted its head, looking curiously at them. It then lightly booped its nose to Luffy’s face, as if expecting something. Luffy then tentatively patted the nose of the Sea King and it seemed to… _purr?_

            “Why is the Sea King purring?” Ace demanded, wanting to know since when have Sea Kings been like cats.

            “Eeer? Maybe it has to do with your devil fruits? I mean the whole _the sea will never have a hold on creation_ thing probably has to do with this.” Sabo said.

            “But those Sea Kings from a month ago kept attacking me and I had my devil fruit back then!” Ace pointed out.

            “…Yeah but that type of Sea King is much more aggressive than normal Sea Kings.” Sabo countered.

            “Stupid Sea Tigers.” Ace muttered before sighing.

            Luffy just stood there, petting the Sea King, for a few minutes before Sabo spoke up.

            “We should find the nearest island in order to contact Oyaji and Marco.” Sabo said.

            Luffy got an idea and turned to the Sea King.

            “Hey buddy! Can you show us to the nearest island?” Luffy asked.

            The Sea King bobbed its head before swimming off, swimming above water so they could still see it. Ace looked to Sabo who just shrugged, prompting Ace and Luffy to follow after it. The Sea King ended up leading them to a jungle of an island with a large village on a mountain in the middle of the island. Not sure of when they’d be back Ace had Luffy store their vehicles in his pocket dimension. Luffy then thanked the Sea King before they headed off into the jungle.

            As they traveled through the jungle they spotted many different types of mushrooms. Of course, Sabo told them not to eat any as they could all be poisonous. Thankfully though, they came upon multiple boars that they were able to kill and roast for food. After eating, they wandered around the jungle until they came upon part of the mountain. With a sigh, Sabo asked Luffy to reduce their weight to nothing.

            “What for?” Luffy asked, curious.

            “You’re going to scale up the mountain while we’re holding onto you.” Sabo said.

            “Uh, walking up or grappling hook?” Luffy asked, causing the two to look at him.

            “You can walk up walls now?!” Ace asked.

            “Yeah… it’s easy! I just have to focus the center of gravity on where I’m walking!” Luffy said.

            “Uh, then do that.” Sabo said, scratching the back of his head.

            Luffy then reduced his brothers’ gravity to nothing and they grabbed a hold of him. Slowly but surely Luffy began to walk up the mountainside, his use of his powers evident by then pulse of blackish-purple energy every time he took a step. About ten minutes later he made it to the top. In front of them they saw the village and a large palace. Inside the village, they saw woman of different heights and sizes walking all around the village. After looking at the village for a bit Luffy grabbed his brothers and jumped onto the roof of the palace. Suddenly however, the roofing below them gave out and they started falling down. When they landed they seemed to be in a bathing room. They looked forward they saw the naked back of a black-haired woman. On her back seemed to be a burn mark in the shape of a giant hoof. However, having heard the splash the woman instantly turned and saw them, covering her chest and the steam from the bath covering her lower half.

            “Children?! Male children at that?! You’ve seen my back!” The woman shouted.

            “Ah, were sorry! We were attacked at sea and were led here by a Sea King!” Sabo said bowing.

            The doors behind them instantly opened and in came two large women. One had orange long orange hair and was relatively big, wearing skimpy clothing. The other had long green hair and was relatively skinny, wearing skimpy clothing as well.

            “Sister!” Shouted the orange haired one.

            “Did something happen?” Asked the green haired one.

            “These children saw the mark.” The woman said before turning to the kids.

            The woman then put her hands in a heart shaped gesture and then she spoke.

            “Mero Mero Mellow!” She shouted, a heart flying at the boys from her hands.

            The boys braced themselves for when it hit but when it did, nothing happened. The three boys looked at the woman curiously.

            “Was… something supposed to happen?” Ace asked.

            “They’re not petrified!” The green haired woman shouted in confusion.

            “We were supposed to be petrified? Just because we saw your mark?” Luffy asked, curiously.

            “Boy, do you know what this mark is?” The black-haired woman asked.

            “Uh, no? Am I supposed to?” Luffy asked.

            The woman seemed to sigh before giving the boys a narrowed look.

            “It is the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, a mark used by the Celestial Dragons to brand people as their slaves.” She said.

            “So… you were a slave? But you’re now free? Why are you sad then?” Luffy asked innocently.

            The woman’s eyes narrowed at Luffy before she took up a haughty pose.

            “I am not sad little boy. Do you know who I am?” She asked.

            “No? Again, are we supposed to?” Ace asked this time.

            That seemed to offend the woman who glared at Ace.

            “Such insolence! I am Boa Hancock, Empress of Amazon Lily, the Island of Women, and Shichibukai!” Hancock said, introducing herself.

            Luffy waded up to the woman’s back and touched the hoof mark, causing her to flinch.

            “This mark… it’s what makes you sad, isn’t it?” Luffy said before taking out the small green gem from earlier.

            Everyone but Hancock, as she couldn’t see what Luffy was doing, watched in shock as Luffy pushed the gem into Hancock and the woman started to glow. The glowing woman then started to shrink, de-aging rapidly. When the glow vanished it revealed an eleven year old Hancock who seemed to be extremely confused.

            “Marigold, why are you so much taller?” Hancock asked, addressing the orange haired one.

            “What did you do to our sister?!” Marigold shouted.

            Luffy turned her around, causing the now young girl to face him. She was confused when she heard her sisters gasp.

            “What’s wrong?” She asked.

            “S-sister! Your brand it’s gone!” The green haired one shouted.

            “Wait! What?! Show me a mirror!” Hancock shouted.

            Marigold dashed over with a large mirror and Hancock looked and gasped for two reasons. One, she was eleven years old again and two, she no longer had her slave brand.

            “What did you do boy?!” She asked, desperately.

            “I have the Yami Yami no Mi! I’m a Darkness Human! I can extract people’s life force and put it in other people!” Luffy said with a smile.

            Sabo, seeing the women confused still, decided to explain.

            “Basically he regressed your age to before you got the mark by putting another person’s life force in you.” Sabo said.

            “But would he be able to age us back to normal and we still not have the mark?” The green haired one asked.

            “Mhm it should work like that. I mean she doesn’t have the mark anymore and her body doesn’t remember having the mark anymore. At least that’s what the voice says.” Luffy said.

            “Voice?” Hancock asked.

            “Yup! My Devil Fruit has a voice, so it can teach me!” Luffy said with a smile, causing Hancock to blush from the adorableness.

            “But Devil Fruits don’t work like that, we should know we have them.” The green haired one said.

            “Ah, my brothers ate two of the Six Judgements. They’re the six most powerful Logia fruits, powerful enough to have a conscience.” Sabo explained.

            The women gained a confused look on their faces, not understanding what Sabo meant.

            “Six Judgements? Why are they called that?” Hancock asked.

            “Because, they judge whether or not a person is worthy to eat them. If you are you get full access to the powers and a voice that helps you, if not the most powerful aspects are locked away and you get no help.” Sabo explained.

            That explanation allowed them to understand. Hancock then got on her knees, prostrating herself before Luffy.

            “Sister!” The two other women gasped, never having seen their sister bow before a man in their lives, willingly that is.

            “Can you please age me back and do the same to my sisters?” She begged of Luffy.

            “Sure! Why not? Everyone deserves to be happy.” Luffy said, causing Hancock to smile which shocked her sisters.

            “Big sis is smiling!” Marigold said in shock, but it had a tone of happiness to it.

            Luffy then thrusted his hand into Hancock’s back and grasped her life force. The voice then instructed him on how to regulate how much life force he was taking and then told him that this would be the last time he’d hear from it, as he had learned everything. Nodding mentally, Luffy then focused on how many years he wanted to take from her, which was nine, and then pulled. Out came a greenish-blue, but mostly green, gem the same size as the one he pushed into Hancock. Hancock then rapidly aged back to her original age, but her body was mark free. Luffy then walked over to Marigold and looked up at her.

            “Um, it might remove your weight gain, er unless it’s part of your Devil Fruit.” Luffy said.

            Marigold thought about what the boy said. She had put on all this weight, which was in fact mostly if not all muscle, from a special form of training. So, that caused her to give a response.

            “This is actually muscle. I worked hard to get this, but really I don’t mind training all over again if it rids me of my shameful mark.” Marigold said.

            “Oh! Then might have something that’ll allow you to train and not gain muscles.” Luffy said.

            “Really? What is it?” Marigold asked, curiously.

            Luffy quickly held up his right arm and showed them the bracelet on his wrist.

            “This is a Grav Lock. It’s part of my Yami Yami no Mi powers, my ability to manipulate gravity. It increases the amount of gravity on your body. But we’d need to see how much you can lift when you age back.” Luffy said.

            “That sounds interesting I’ll try it, go ahead and free me.” Marigold said with a smile.

            Luffy pushed the gem in and Marigold shrunk, de-aging to before she got the slave mark thus losing the muscle she had gained. He then pulled back out the gem, aging her back to her normal age, the gem looking like it did when it went in. Marigold looked similar to her green haired sister in size after she aged. Luffy then went over to the green-haired woman.

            “Ah, what’s your name?” Luffy asked, curiously.

            “I’m Sandersonia, Boa Sandersonia.” She said with a smile.

            Luffy nodded and then repeated the process on Sandersonia, causing her to de-age and then age back. The three sisters then walked in front of the three boys and bowed.

            “Thank you for ridding us of our shame.” They all said together.

            “It is odd though, that males would be the reason we lose the mark on our backs.” Marigold mused.

            “Well it doesn’t matter; these boys will be welcome in our Kingdom.” Hancock said.

            “Ah, why wouldn’t men be allowed in?” Ace asked, curiously.

            Sandersonia gave a raised brow before answering Ace’s question.

            “It is as my sister said before, this is Amazon Lily, the Island of Women. Men are forbidden to step foot on here.” Sandersonia said.

            Well, that explained why they only saw women walking around in the town.

            “Should we introduce everyone to our saviors?” Marigold asked.

            “We should, but to warn you boys, our people do not know about our history as slaves. Rather, they think that we slayed a gorgon and received a curse of gorgon eyes on our backs.” Sandersonia said.

            “Why would you do that?” Luffy asked, curiously.

            Marigold explained that the world didn’t have the nicest view of former slaves. The Kuja, the name of their people, however would see them as weak whereas the world would fear the wraith of the Celestial Dragons. Hancock then explained that everyone in their kingdom believed that their Devil Fruits were the result of the curse. Now understanding, the boys were asked their names before they were to head out.

            “Ah, I’m Monkey D. Luffy nice to meet ya!” Luffy said with a smile.

            “I’m Portgas D. Ace, same here!” Ace said with a smile.

            “I’m just Sabo, though Luffy keeps telling me to call myself Monkey D. Sabo.” Sabo said.

            “Hey, we’re all brothers! Since you don’t like your parents, then you should take one of our names.” Luffy said, Ace nodding.

            The three women smiled at their sibling-like bond. Hancock then got dressed and started to lead the boys out of the palace. When they walked out they were met by a lot of gathered women who seemed to be shocked at the three boys.

            “Fellow Kuja! We have been released of our Gorgon Curse while being allowed to keep our powers to protect ourselves! We owe our safety to these three little boys.” Hancock said.

            “Boys? Males saved you?” One of the women asked.

            “Yes, and for this they’re now considered under our protection and honorary Kuja Pirates.” Sandersonia said, the other two nodding.

            The women got a confused look on their faces before shrugging and cheering. It was then that everyone in the city threw a party. The party lasted all night long, with everyone surprised by Luffy and Ace’s appetite. They at first thought it was the norm for men but Sabo assured them it wasn’t and that men eat about the same as women. During the feast Luffy was talking to Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold about how much they could lift now.

            “Hmm, I can lift about maybe two hundred fifty pounds easily.” Hancock said, thinking.

            “I tried earlier and found that I can lift six hundred pounds. I used to be able to lift a thousand.” Marigold said.

            “I can lift about four hundred and fifty pounds.” Sandersonia said.

            “Mmhm okay.” Luffy said.

            He then turned to Sabo, who knew a lot of different facts.

            “Sabo, what’s the ideal weight for someone of six foot one and twelve feet?” Luffy asked.

            “Hm. Six foot one should be about a hundred and sixty pounds and twelve feet… uh three hundred and seventy.” Sabo said, after taking a bite of steak that was on his plate.

            “That means um, uh, Hancock, can use this one. This should put three hundred and twenty pounds of gravity on you.” Luffy said, materializing a black beaded bracelet with the number two on it and handing it to Hancock.

            The woman looked at it curiously before sliding it on. She instantly grunted in effort when the weight slammed onto her. Despite the obvious effort that it should take to lift that much for her Hancock showed no strain on her face.

            “Um, for you two it should be uh. Sandersonia’s is five hundred and eighteen, Marigold’s is six hundred and sixty two.” Luffy said, having gotten better at math thanks to Sabo.

            Luffy generated two bracelets one that had the number one point seven nine and another that had the number one point four on it. He then handed the one point seven nine to Marigold and the other to Sandersonia. They put them on and grunted as well, but like Hancock didn’t show any strain on their face.

            “Hmm, don’t take them off until you get used to the weight, because it disappears when you remove it. And by used to it, I mean being able to move normally as if there was no weight.” Luffy said.

            “What should we do when we get used to it?” Marigold asked curiously.

            “Then mail me and I’ll send you a new one. AH! That reminds me we need to get back to Oyaji and Pineapple!” Luffy shouted.

            “Oyaji and Pineapple?” Hancock asked.

            Ace turned to them, remembering as well.

            “Yeah! We live with the Whitebeard Pirates! Marines attacked us and Marco, that’s Pineapple, told us to get away so we wouldn’t get hurt cause they sent Vice Admirals after us.” Ace said.

            The three sisters were shocked at that. These three sweet boys lived with the Whitebeard Pirates.

            “Why do you live with them? Aren’t you a bit young to be a pirate?” Sandersonia asked.

            “They saved us, well actually they saved our little brother’s life. They’re our family now, our brothers and sisters and Pops of course.” Ace said.

            Luffy and Sabo however looked at Ace in shock.

            “You called him Pops!” Sabo said in shock, causing Ace to blush.

            “I, uh, figured it was time.” Ace said, before Luffy tackled him with a hug, causing the three sisters to mentally aw.

            “We could help you get back to them.” Hancock offered.

            “That’d be wonderful!” Luffy said with a cheer.

            “Tomorrow morning however, it’s late and you three need sleep.” Marigold said with a stern look.

            Luffy pouted at the woman with puppy dog eyes but the woman wasn’t moved.

            “That won’t work, I’ve had to deal with my elder sister’s puppy dog eyes.” Marigold said with a laugh.

            “Aww but Sis Marigold!” Luffy said, shocking the woman.

            “Sis?” She asked, curiously with a hint of fondness.

          “Yeah! You’re Sis like Sis Sonia but Hancock is Big Sis Hancock because she’s sweet and nice like Makino!” Luffy said.

            Hancock turned her eyes to Luffy and blushed before squealing like a schoolgirl, shocking everyone in the room.

            _‘Did Empress Hancock just squeal?’_ was the collective shock.

            She then picked up Luffy and cuddled him.

            “Aren’t you an adorable little one,” She said with a smile.

            Luffy just smiled while Ace and Sabo were shaking their heads with a fond smile. Marigold and Sandersonia were smiling as well because their sister’s cold heart was slowly thawing. Quickly after that the three boys went to bed, being given a room by Hancock who wished them goodnight. The next morning, they were guided onto the Kuja Pirates’ flag ship where they set off. It didn’t take them long to actually find the Moby Dick because according to Marigold they had just gotten reports of sightings of the ship off the border of the Calm Belt. When they got near they saw a familiar blue phoenix that landed on the Kuja Pirates’ ship. Of course, being wary of men the warriors held up their weapons. Marco, transforming back, just ignored them and picked up all three boys, hugging them close.

            “I’m so glad you three are okay, yoi!” Marco said, kissing each of their heads.

            “Of course we’re okay! Big Sis Hancock took care of us.” Luffy said, causing Hancock to blush again.

            That caused Marco to put them down and look around, warily.

            “Uh, boys would you like to tell me why you’re on the flag ship of a Shichibukai, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “Cause we’re family!” Luffy said again with his innocent smile, causing the three sisters to fondly smile at the little boy.

            “Family, yoi?” Marco asked, raising a brow.

            “The little one saved us from something personal. We ended up adopting them into our people.” Marigold offered.

            “Yes, let it be known that Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, and… Boa Sabo are considered honorary Kuja islanders and will always be welcome.” Hancock said, pausing a second before adding her and her sisters’ last name to Sabo’s name, giving a smile to the boys.

            “Boa Sabo? … I like it. But why just me?” Sabo asked.

            The other two brothers wanted to know as well. Of course Ace didn’t want to change his last name mostly because it was a reminder of his mother. Luffy didn’t really care, not having that much attachment to his last name.

            “Because little nephew, we can tell why you don’t like your parents. After all your facial features are very similar to the people we don’t like. So, we’re giving you our name instead.” Marigold said with a knowing smile.

            Sabo blushed and thanked the women.

            “Of course, all three of you can take our name if you want, we’re just giving it to Sabo because he doesn’t have one.” Sandersonia said.

            Luffy then got an idea and put his hand into his pocket dimension, shocking the Kuja Pirates, and pulled out three Sakazuki cups, having kept the ones that they used long ago.

            “Uh, do you have a bottle of sake and three more cups like this?” Luffy asked.

            His brothers’ eyes lit up in recognition as Hancock nodded and went to go get them. She came out with three similar cups, they had snakes wrapping around them, and a bottle of sake. Luffy then took the six cups and poured a little amount in each and handed one to each of them.

            “Me and my brothers did this about a year back and now I want to do it with you guys, Ace, Sabo you approve right?” Luffy asked, turning to his brothers with an asking look in his eyes.

            The two brothers nodded with a smile, not being able to really say no. After all the women were really nice and did share their story with them before they went to bed last night.

            “Good! Then ah, with these cups we become family in all but blood. We will always accept each other no matter what and support each other through thick and thin.” Luffy said, trying to remember what Ace said.

            Although it wasn’t exactly what Ace had said before, it was close enough. So the six clinked their glasses and downed the alcohol. The three boys flinched again from the burn but the three sisters didn’t at all, showing that they were used to it. The three boys then smiled and got off with Marco to the Moby Dick. They then waved at the Kuja Pirates and promised they’d visit them sometime. After the women left the three boys started to regale everyone with the story of how they made friends with the Kuja Pirates. Of course, they left out the three sisters’ stories, cause after all it wasn’t their story to tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo what did you think of that. Originally Hancock was going to be called Momma buuuut then the ceremony wouldn’t make much sense. Anyways considering what I said at the beginning. It all depends on who you want to join. If you guys end up wanting Usopp to join early then I’d need a way to set up the Kuro encounter because I’m pretty sure that he would have killed Kaya sooner if it wasn’t for Usopp. Brook I can easily throw in because him not being present at Thriller Bark doesn’t effect anything other than them knowing that salt stops the zombies. But that I can toss in easily. Nami I’m not adding until canon timeline. Chopper, well there’s no need to add him early. Neither for Sanji too, in fact Sanji early might get Germa 66 on him faster. Zoro eh, if you guys want? But I really need to get to canon so it’s easier to write the chapters because I’d have a guideline and I’m running out of ideas for ASL Fluff. The fluff will continue by the time we get to canon. Also, next chapter is Law :p


	8. A Miraculous Doctor! Enter: Trafalgar D. Water Law!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dududuu welcome to chapter 8! In this chapter we finally meet Law! Like I think I said last time, this is also a timeskip by about a year. We’re slowly getting towards canon. One person had said that they didn’t want Alabasta to show up yet so I guess we’d skip that. But a lot if not all of you wanted Brook so I’ll see about getting him in. I’m just thankful that I made it so that Luffy’s and Ace’s boats can fit people. Otherwise I didn’t see how I’d fit all the early people I planned along with the new people. Now, in this chapter some of you might find part of it off putting but I’ll explain more at the end. Anyways onwards we go!

            A year had passed by and it was currently June. Ace and Sabo were thirteen and Luffy was ten. By now Ace no longer had the fruit’s voice inside his head, having mastered making miniature volcanoes months back. As well, Sabo could fight fairly with the other two brothers despite his lack of a Devil Fruit. The Moby Dick was currently making its way to an island in the South Blue, Izo having heard of a miraculous surgeon there. Currently though, Ace and Luffy were sparring. Sabo was sitting out as he had already sparred individually with both boys, having won against Ace but lost against Luffy. The reason he lost to Luffy was rather embarrassing as he had ended up tripping when he was about to finish the fight. That allowed Luffy to put him in a compromising position. Ace laughed at him the entire time before his fight with Luffy. One may wonder why Luffy hadn’t won it easily by just putting a lot of gravity on Sabo, well that was actually one of the rules of their spars. Luffy and Ace weren’t allowed to take the easiest way out which included Lu’s Gravity and Ace’s tendency to drown people in magma. Another one of the rules was that if Luffy managed to get any of them in a hold they lost. This was to be fair to Ace who, whenever Luffy did get him into a hold, could barely do anything due to Luffy’s ability to negate his powers.

            “Come on Lu! That was dirty!” Ace shouted, from under Luffy who was grinning and laughing.

            Oh, looks like Ace lost already. With a sigh, Sabo stood up and walked over.

            “What did he do?” Sabo asked.

            “He..He kicked me in the crotch!” Ace shouted, groaning on the ground.

            Sabo broke out into laughter at that. To be honest that was dirty but Sabo had something to say about that.

            “Come on, we’re supposed to be pirates. Playing dirty is the point of the rules.” Sabo said with a smirk.

            “Yeah but still! It hurt!” Ace whine.

            Luffy just smiled and cuddled up with Ace, snuggling into his chest.

            “I’m sorry Ace.” Luffy said with his adorable eyes that made Ace melt.

            Ace huffed and hugged Luffy close.

            “It’s okay Lu… I forgive you.” Ace said before giving his little brother a kiss on the cheek, which made the boy’s smile widen even more.

            The boys then made their way to the galley for dinner. On the way there they were stopped by a familiar bird that was native to Amazon Lily. It had a letter for them from the three sisters who wanted to know how the boys were doing and let them know they’ve gotten used to their third set of bracelets. Also, it had a new book for Sabo, as Sandersonia had been trading books with Sabo. So, the boys quickly grabbed a piece of paper and envelope from their room along with a writing utensil, while Sabo grabbed a book for Sandersonia, and made their way to the galley. They got their food and sat down by Marco, Izo, and Jiru. As they ate, each boy was adding their own bit of information to the letter to the sisters.

            “Whatchya writing?” Jiru asked, taking a bite of his food.

            “Letter to our sisters.” Sabo said.

            “I still can’t believe you befriended the Gorgon Sisters.” Izo said, cutting up the steak he had.

            “I still can’t believe it and I was there, yoi.” Marco said.

            The boys shortly after that finished the letter and then turned their attention fully to their food.

            “So, what are you two doing when you turn seventeen?” Jiru decided to ask.

            The man didn’t ask Luffy because the boy practically shouted it every day.

            “Well, I’m probably going to join this crew.” Ace said, Sabo nodding.

            “Same here but, it all depends. Though we do know what we’re doing when we turn twenty.” Sabo said.

            “Oh, yoi? What’s that, yoi?” Marco asked.

            “We’re joining our little brother on his journey. Can’t leave him to wander alone after all. Plus, we want to be their when our brother becomes Pirate King.” Ace said, giving Luffy a kiss on the cheek, Sabo doing the same.

            Luffy just cheerfully smiled and repeated the action to his brothers. Of course Jiru had to go and cough the words ‘Bro-con’ which made Ace launch a ball of fire at the man.

            “Fire?! I thought you were magma!” Jiru shouted, trying to put out the fire in his hair.

            “I am, but magma can create small fires. So, I can manipulate fire to a certain degree but not as much as a Logia whose element is fire.” Ace said

            Jiru just huffed and returned to eating. Soon enough the boys finished eating and made their way back to the deck, though not before asking Marco a question.

            “Where’s Blamenco by the way?” Sabo asked.

            “Why, yoi?” Marco said.

            “Because, we’re more than likely to hit a growth spurt soon so we’ll need a bigger bed.” Sabo explained.

            “Ah, well I think he’s down on the bottom floor, fixing a few things, yoi.” Marco said.

            The boys thanked Marco, which at first would be surprising for Ace but he had been taking manners lessons from Izo. The boys then made their way to the deck where Luffy created the three new bracelets. Luffy then put the bracelets in the pouch around the bird’s neck with everything else. They then made their way to Blamenco who was more than happy to make them a bigger bed. The man said he needed something to take up his free time.

            About a week later they arrived at the island in the South Blue. There Luffy begged the three brothers if he could go exploring on his own. Reluctantly, very reluctantly at that, the older brothers agreed. Seeing Luffy cheer and smile was worth it. Of course, Lu had to agree flaring a tiny bit of his Haki every so often so the brothers can tell that he’s alright. Flaring a bit of Busoshoku Haki was perfectly fine compared to being able to wander alone. So, Luffy made his way into the forest next to the town and began exploring. As he was exploring he took one step and the floor under him crumbled, causing him to fall and lose his hat before blacking out.

            When Luffy came to he found himself in the ruins of what seemed to be a temple. In the center of the temple on the shrine was a chest with a forest-like design to it. Luffy, temporarily distracted from the loss of his treasure, wandered up to the treasure chest. It was when Luffy saw a block with weird writing on it that he couldn’t read. That was when a _voice_ spoke to him.

            _“In the Heavenly Year of three hundred, we finally managed to find the fruit of creation. The Twenty Kingdoms have hunted us down for this fruit so here we lay it to rest in hopes of someone worthy finding this fruit. The Fruit of Nature._ ” The voice spoke before disappearing.

            That peaked Luffy’s curiosity even more so he approached the chest and opened it. Inside was a small brown watermelon shaped fruit with green plant motifs and flowers all over it. Luffy smiled widely and picked it up eagerly and then stored it in his pocket dimension. Suddenly he heard two thuds behind him and turned. He was met with the sight of a human sized polar bear and a man wearing a cow print hat, a yellow shirt with black sleeves that had a smiley face on it, and a pair of jeans with cow print. On the man’s back was a large nodachi, which Luffy knew of because of Vista’s obsession with swords.

            “Are you alright kid?” The man asked.

            Luffy’s attention however, was on the polar bear. Luffy charged at the polar bear and glomped it, rubbing his face in the fur.

            “It’s so fluffy and soft!” Luffy yelled, causing the bear to blush.

            “I guess you’re okay then kid.” The man said with a sweat drop.

            Luffy promptly jumped down and remembered his members. He bowed to the man and polar bear.

            “Hiya, I’m Monkey D. Luffy, nice ta meetchya!” Luffy said with a wide smile.

            The man seemed shocked for a second at Luffy’s name before repeating the gesture.

            “I’m Trafalgar D. Water Law, and this is Bepo-ya.” Law said.

            “Hello.” Bepo said with a wave, causing Luffy to squeal again and cuddle the bear.

            Law seemed to chuckle at Bepo’s misfortune before asking Luffy a question.

            “I’m assuming this is yours Luffy-ya?” Law asked, handing Luffy his straw hat.

            “My treasure!” Luffy said, jumping and hugging the man, causing the man to blush a bit.

            Luffy promptly put on the hat before smiling at the man.

            “Thank you! I can’t lose this, I promised Shanks I’d return it when I became a great pirate! Hey… do you two want to join my crew?!” Luffy asked.

            “No, I’m planning to make my own crew soon.” Law said bluntly.

            “Aww but if you join mine you could be with my family for a while! It’s a large family and we’re on a huge ship!” Luffy said.

            “As nice as the offer is, Luffy-ya, I can’t accept. Do you need help getting out of here?” Law asked.

            Luffy promptly shook his head and jumped up in the air, landing on a platform of blackish-purple substance.

            “I’m a Darkness Human!” Luffy said.

            Law didn’t know how that translated to the kid being able to stand on air but he shrugged his shoulders. He watched as the kid hopped out of the hole by repeatedly jumping. He then created a large blue sphere and swapped him and Bepo with two rocks by the hole. Luffy was staring at the man with awe in his eyes.

            “THAT WAS SO COOL! How did you do that?!” Luffy shouted.

            “I’m a Devil Fruit user too, but I’m a Paramecia.” Law said.

            “Parameshia? I think I heard of that! Jozu is one! He can turn into diamond.” Luffy said, messing up the word.

            “Paramecia, and that sounds right, Luffy-ya.” Law said.

            Law then started to walk away but soon found Luffy following him.

            “So… Torao, what do you do?” Luffy asked, not knowing how to say Law’s last name.

            Law however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the boy’s inability to pronounce his last name.

            “I’m a surgeon, I’m studying medicine at the clinic in town.” Law said.

            “Ooh! My family is looking for a famous surgeon in town. We need a new one because our two brothers and one sister ended up getting killed by marines…” Luffy said, not noticing the narrowing of eyes by Law.

            “Who is your family anyways? From the sound of it, Luffy-ya, your family sounds like pirates.” Law asked.

            “Oh! They’re the Whitebeard Pirates! Of course, I’m not part of them really, because I gotta be the captain of my own crew if I want to be the Pirate King!” Luffy said, ignoring the shock that was going on Law’s and Bepo’s faces at the moment.

            Law had realized that it meant that the Whitebeard Pirates were looking for him. Of course, that wasn’t really on his mind because he was looking for some herbs. There was a new medicine he had an idea for that he needed the herbs for. Reluctantly, he enlisted the help of Luffy to help find them. It was then that he found that the kid was _really_ lucky. In the span of five minutes Luffy had already found five different patches of one of the herbs which was normally hard to find because it blended into the grass. He also found that the boy was really helpful for reaching high places. This was shown when Law found that one of the herbs was on a cliff. Luffy simply grabbed Bepo and Law by the hand and began to _walk_ up the cliff while carrying them like it was nothing.

            “How are you doing this Luffy-ya?” Law asked, astounded.

            “Shishishi! Darkness is gravity after all! I can reduce your weight to nothing while creating a gravitational pull on the cliff for me to walk up.” Luffy explained.

            That was… rather bright for a kid that didn’t seem to be that smart. Law decided to be blunt and voice this.

            “Shishishi! I know I’m not that bright in certain things but… I think Sabo, my brother, called me a physics prodigy. Whatever that is. I just know that things like this come really easy to me.” Luffy explained.

            Law agreed that it seemed like that. A prodigal talent like that must be really useful for a power that focused on gravity. Some thought his talent in medicine was prodigal but that was a lie. Because of his life in Flevance and his parents’ occupation as doctors he had learned medicine from a young age.

            “So… Luffy-ya, what’s your family like?” Law asked, as he was harvesting the herbs from the patch.

            Luffy’s smile was warm that it made Law smile as well.

            “They’re great! I have my big brothers, Sabo and Ace, they’re not my real brothers but that doesn’t matter, we shared sake! Sabo’s the smart one, always knowing random facts… Ace is ah, Ace.” Luffy said.

            “Ace-ya is Ace-ya? What does that mean?” Law asked, curious.

            “Well, Ace is unique, he has a temper but always has time for me, even when he’s mad! And he’ll let me cuddle with him whenever I want to! If someone makes him mad he’ll chase after them with magma but if I make him made he’ll just chase me to tickle me.” Luffy said.

            Magma? Law decided to file that away for later, as he had something different to ask.

            “But what about Sabo-ya? Don’t you love him too?” Law asked.

            “Of course! Sabo’s really nice. Don’t tell Ace this but I think Sabo’s the nicer brother. Sabo always lets me steal from his plate but Ace won’t. Sabo’s also the one to read me stories at night but Ace is the one who sings me to sleep when I have nightmares. Sabo’s calm but if you make him mad he can be mischievous!” Luffy said.

            The way that Luffy talked about his brothers reminded Law of his little sister, Lami. However, he quickly shook the sad thoughts out of his mind before asking another question.

            “So, how did you guys meet?” Law asked.

            “Ooh! Well, gramps gave me to bandits, hoping I would become a Marine. Which I will never do! But I met Ace there and then Sabo! Ace would try to kill me a lot but I knew Ace was really sad inside cause I could feel it. Sabo was sad too but… Ace felt one step close to the edge.” Luffy mumbled.

            “Ace-ya tried to kill you? Why are you guys so close now?” Law asked, confused.

            “Ah! Well, one day I followed them and found their treasure. Ace wanted to kill me and Sabo seemed a bit reluctant to agree. But pirates appeared and they ran away. I got hurt real bad but Ace and Sabo saved me! They promised then to always be there for me.” Luffy said.

            That brought at first, a frown, to Law’s face. But when he heard the promise he smiled.

            “They sound like wonderful brothers.” Law said.

            “They’re the best! I can’t picture my life without them.” Luffy said with a wistful smile.

            Luffy then started talking about the various commanders and such. Especially talking a lot about Thatch and Marco. But soon they had finished gathering all the herbs and Law made his way back to the town. It was there that Luffy saw Izo talking to a doctor outside the town’s clinic. Luffy grabbed Bepo and Law’s arms and dragged them towards the two.

            “Come on come meet my family!” Luffy said.

            “Luffy-ya I don’t think-“ Law started before they reached Izo.

            “Izo! I made a new friend!” Luffy shouted, causing the doctor and the crossdresser to turn to face Luffy.

            “Oh hey! That’s who you’re looking for, Law-kun right there.” The doctor said, pointing at Law.

            Izo gave a smile to Luffy, ruffling his hair, before he turned to Law.

            “Thank you for watching over him, his brothers were worried despite the fact they gave him permission to explore on his own.” Izo said, giving a bow.

            “It was no problem, Luffy-ya didn’t need any of my help anyways. He got out of the hole without my help.” Law said.

            “Hole?” Izo asked, turning to Luffy with his hands on his hips.

Luffy laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

“I may have fallen into a hole? But hey! I found something for Sabo!” Luffy said before sticking his hand into thin air, shocking everyone but Izo.

Everyone was shocked though when Luffy pulled out the Devil Fruit from earlier.

“Luffy, is that a Devil Fruit?” Izo asked.

“Yup! Mr. Stone told me it was the Nature Devil Fruit!” Luffy said with a smile.

Law had a curious look on his face before he spoke.

“Mr. Stone? You mean the Poneglyphs?” Law asked, drawing the attention of the doctor and Izo.

“Yeah! That rock with weird symbols! It spoke to me, said something about the Heavenly Year three hundred.” Luffy said, waving it off.

“I’m not that surprised that there was a Poneglyph, this town was built on top of the grounds of an ancient civilization. There are hundreds of ruins underground all over the place.” The doctor mused.

Ignoring the asinine luck that was Luffy, Izo turned his attention to Law.

“Law-san, the Whitebeard Pirates are looking for a new surgeon.” Izo started.

“I already heard about it from Luffy-ya. I can’t, I’m here to study medicine.” Law said, bowing as an apology.

Izo however perked up and gave the younger boy a smile.

“If studying’s your problem then that won’t be a problem for us. We have a lot of skilled doctors on the Moby Dick, none of them are skilled surgeons though. I’m pretty sure you could learn a lot there, plus we have an entire section in our library dedicated to medical knowledge.” Izo said.

Law’s eye twitched. Izo was making it really hard for Law to say no. From the tone of Izo’s voice the number of medical books they had was probably huge.

“Law-kun, you’d be better off studying with them. You’re a great surgeon but this quiet little town doesn’t get enough people who need your kind of help. On a pirate ship you’re sure to be needed a lot. You’ll get better experience with them.” The doctor said with a smile.

And with that, Law’s resolve crumbled to nothing. The man sighed and turned to Izo.

“Alright, but when I want to leave to start my own crew I can leave right?” Law asked.

“No problem, Luffy here is doing the same, as well as his brothers. Well actually his brothers are joining him. As long as you are willing to be put on emergency contacts for when we need you.” Izo said.

“I have no problem with that.” Law said.

Luffy however started cheering.

“This means I can still convince Law to join my crew!” Luffy said.

“I told you Luffy-ya, I’m making my own crew.” Law protested.

Izo however laughed at the man.

“Have fun with that, when Luffy decides he wants something he gets it. Not by force but… he can be rather convincing.” Izo said, causing the man to grumble about what the hell he had gotten into.

The three men plus the polar bear then made their way back to the Moby Dick where they were greeted happily by everyone. Luffy of course tackled his brothers and snuggled into their chests. He then dragged them over to Law whom he introduced them to. The two boys were wary of course of the older man but that vanished when Luffy told them that he was with Law most of the time and nothing really bad happened. Luffy then remembered something and pulled out the Devil Fruit.

“Look Sabo! I found this for you!” Luffy said eagerly, shocking the two boys.

“… What is that? I mean I know it’s a Devil Fruit… but…” Sabo said, not really having read the entirety of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, having gotten distracted with a novel.

“It’s the Shizen Shizen no Mi.” Luffy said simply, handing Sabo the Devil Fruit.

Sabo gave the fruit a once over before humming.

“Don’t I have to be worthy to eat it?” Sabo asked.

Worthy? Why would somebody have to be worthy to eat a Devil Fruit, was Law’s thoughts.

“Sabo’s worthy! Sabo’ll use it to protect us!” Luffy said, Ace nodding.

With a sigh, Sabo took a bite into the small watermelon fruit and grimaced at the taste. At first he didn’t think anything happened until his arm turned into a bunch of flowers, plants, and vines. Quickly Sabo willed his arm to turn back to normal and thankfully it did. He also flinched when he heard a voice in his head before relaxing.

“Great, I just realized I’m the only one with a voice in my head.” Sabo groaned, causing the other two to laugh.

“Voice?” Law asked confused.

They took that time to explain the Six Judgements to Law who seemed very intrigued by it. He guessed it made sense that extremely powerful Logias would have a way to prevent bad people from using their powers. I mean, they didn’t know that much about Devil Fruits, the only knowledge they had come from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia which was written by Dr. Vegapunk. Law then was pulled away from them by Izo who brought him to Whitebeard.

“You must be the famous surgeon brat we’ve been hearing about.” Whitebeard said.

“I am thankful to be here but I must warn you.” Law said.

“Oh? Warn me of what?” Whitebeard asked.

“I have an evil man after me, he’s known in the underground as Joker but worldwide is known as Donquixote Doflamingo.” Law said.

Whitebeard however just rose a brow at that statement.

“Why would an upstart like that Doflamingo brat be after you?” Whitebeard asked.

“Well, I, used to be part of his crew. I joined him when I was ten because I had nothing left to live for and was going to die because of Amber Lead Poisoning.” Law began.

“You must be a child from Flevance. I can sort of figure how you escaped.” Izo commented.

“Yes… well. There I sort of ended up making a mentor in the form of Donquixote Rosinante, or as I called him Cora-san. It turned out that Cora-san was a spy for the Marines but the man truly wanted to save me. So he more or less kidnapped me and tried to find a cure for me.” Law said.

Law had still yet to get over Corazon’s death. He still vowed to kill Doflamingo for killing him.

“Anyways, he soon heard about the Ope Ope no Mi being sold and promptly took me to where it was being held and stole it. Doflamingo however, wanted it and wanted Cora-san to eat it. However, Cora-san couldn’t because he already had a Devil Fruit, but nobody knew.” Law said.

“Let me guess, so he made you eat it?” Whitebeard asked.

“Yes, he then hid me away when Doflamingo arrived and ended up getting killed by the man. Doflamingo’s hunting me for the fruit.” Law said.

“Well, it shouldn’t be a problem, Doflamingo’s no match for this crew.” Whitebeard said confidently.

Law then shifted in his spot before asking Whitebeard a question.

“What do you think of Eternal Life?” He asked.

“Don’t need it, my family is all I need.” Whitebeard said, with Izo nodding.

            “I’m assuming this has to do with why Doflamingo wants the fruit?” Izo asked.

            “Yes, with the Ope Ope no Mi I can perform something called the Perennial Youth Operation. At the cost of my life I can grant someone immortality.” Law said.

            “Gurarara! Well you don’t have to worry about anything like that. None of us want immortality.” Whitebeard said.

            Law smiled and nodded. He then thanked Whitebeard for the opportunity again and then Izo led the man and the polar bear, who didn’t seem to speak much, to the galley to eat. It was there that Luffy waved Bepo and Law over after they got their food. The two sat down and began eating. The conversation seemed to oddly be about marriage, Thatch joking around by asking Marco when he was going to settle down. Luffy then said something really innocent.

            “I’m going to marry Torao when I get older!” Luffy said innocently.

            Instantly everyone spat out what they were eating and turned to Luffy in shock. Ace and Sabo were panicking, though Ace more than Sabo. Izo and Thatch were laughing out loud while Marco had a confused look on his face.

            “Lu! You can’t get married! What about me!?” Ace asked.

            “You’re my brother! You’re going to marry Sabo!” Luffy said with another innocent smile.

            That statement didn’t seem to help as Ace and Sabo started blushing red and Thatch and Izo’s laughter practically doubled. By now Marco was laughing out loud as well, same for Bepo. Law however had a concerned look on his face.

            “Why do you want to marry me? Aren’t you a bit young to think of that, Luffy-ya?” Law asked.

            “Nu uh! Torao is a nice person! Even though he’s sad on the inside he’s also very warm! I like that! I’m gonna marry Torao!” Luffy said firmly.

            Law seemed uncomfortable for a second before sighing and ruffling Luffy’s head.

            “We’ll see when you get older.” Law said with a roll of his eyes.

            Thankfully, Sabo and Ace were still too embarrassed to glare at Law. Law had figured out by now it was best to agree with Luffy or the boy would get rather stubborn about it. Maybe the kid would figure about it later, if he didn’t then he’d see about it when they got there. Soon enough though Dinner was over and Izo took Law to the infirmary so he could get used to the area. Luffy and his brothers of course followed him around. Luffy because he was still interested in Law and Ace and Sabo to watch over Lu around the person he practically proposed to. About three hours later it was time for everyone to head to bed. Izo informed that a room wasn’t really ready yet but Luffy spoke up.

            “They can sleep with us!” Luffy said.

            “Wha?!” Ace shouted.

            “Yeah! Our bed is bigger now and there’s room!” Luffy said.

            Luffy didn’t give Ace or Sabo time to respond as he dragged Bepo and Law to their room. There Bepo perked up and curled up horizontally at the top of the bed. Law shrugged his shoulders and laid down in only his jeans in the middle, his head against Bepo. Luffy then jumped onto Law and snuggled into his chest, causing the other two brothers to pout and Law to blush.

            “Come on Sabo! Ace! Snuggle up beside me!” Luffy whine, causing the boys to perk up and get on the bed.

            Ace took Law’s right and Sabo his left. They were still able to snuggle up to Luffy, though Law felt a tad bit uncomfortable. However when Luffy snuggled a bit more into the man he sighed and just went with it. They then said their good nights, not before each older brother complimented Bepo on his fluffy fur, causing the bear to blush and thank them. Luffy just snuggled up to his two big brothers and favorite people in the world along with his new, hopefully, favorite person in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. I learned, via the wiki, that apparently the first people that Law recruited were Bepo, Penguin, and Sachi. He recruited them right after he escaped from Minion Island. This is relatively brand new information because it’s supposed to come out in the Volume 84 SBS panel. But nevertheless, I did learn this when I wrote this chapter but decided against adding Penguin and Sachi. This was because it would have been increasingly difficult to manage conversations because I can’t manage those two’s personalities. They’re like freaking twins. So I just stuck with Bepo. But that’s not the shocking information. Er, so concerning Luffy’s rather instant love of Law. It’s not that he’s truly in love right now? I mean he kinda is but it’s at the point that he’s in love with Law because of similar circumstances. Law’s emotions are rather similar to Ace’s and being confronted with that kinda shocked Lu. So, Luffy figured that the best thing to make Law happy would be to give him someone to love. Again, it’s not to say that he also isn’t in love with Law. Lu’s one of those kids who can easily fall in love with people, be thankful that he fell in love with Law :D. Also, this chapter was where I came up with the idea with SaboAce. I figured it’d make Ace and Sabo have hilarious reactions when Luffy mentions it. Next chapter is a filler chapter in the sense that nothing new per say pops up? It’s a development of the relationship between Luffy and Law as well as some other things. Also, nothing intimate (besides kisses and cuddles) is going to happen until Luffy’s like sixteen or seventeen. Law’s far too much of an older brother figure to even think of anything younger. (He’d compare the act to someone of his age going after his sister Lami which immediately puts him off it). As usual, suggestions please! I know you guys want Robin and Brook and as a present for yall, in two chapters you guys get Robin :D. But yeah I want to know what else you guys want to happen before canon. Decisions Over Tea I do need suggestions for too. It’s the ASL, AceSaboLuffy pairing, story I’m writing where Ace decides to take Luffy with him and Sabo when they turn seventeen but Luffy’s still captain. I have Luffy’s new devil fruit already for it as anyone who reads Donquixote Prince knows that Luffy’s upcoming DF has been influenced by the idea in DOT. As a teaser, in Syrup Village (not Arc because it’s three years too early for that but Kuro does get axed) you get Usopp and Tashigi joining Luffy. This is because in DOT Luffy and crew are really nice to the Marines as a plan of getting the Marines to turn against the Celestial Dragons. Anyways please give me suggestions! I love your suggestions :P


	9. A Day in the Life of Law & Trio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter nine and the I really need to write more chapters for this chapter. Seriously I only have one more chapter left in this stock, the same for Donquixote Prince. For some reason my eager motivation to write vanished at the tail end of January/beginning of February. But nevertheless I’ll get to working soon, personally I’ve been distracted by other fanfics. Anyways, this chapter is a filler of sorts. Filler in the sense that nothing major like somebody joining the crew or a big fight occurring. But if you count development of relationships and character not filler then it’s not a filler. I made this so that I don’t have people consecutively joining the crew because, as a treat, Robin’s joining next chapter. Originally she was going to join this chapter but it’d be too soon considering Law just joined last chapter. Can someone please explain to me as to why people don’t read AN when generally they contain nice information. Like the information that this story was going to be LuLaw to begin with? At one point way after I announced the pairing, someone was like “Is this going to be a slash fic.” AGHGAD seriously though, read the AN, they’re very helpful. On another note, I haven’t gotten any complaints but if you think I’m not reading your reviews if you suggest something, trust me I am. I get emails notifying me of your reviews. The really pertinent ones get answered via PM and the ones that are like “Cool”, “Thanks for updating”, “Update soon” get read and then I move on. I don’t answer them in the AN because it makes it too clunky and long. And for one, I can’t stand people who answer reviews at the beginning of the chapter. It irritates me because I have to scroll even more to get to the start of the chapter. Anywho onwards we go!

            With a groan, Law woke up in the early morning. His eyes were met by a mess of black hair, arms clinging to him, and a face snuggled into a chest. To his left was neat blonde hair whose owner was snuggled up to the white fur behind him. To his right was another set of messy black hair who was snuggled up just like the blonde. Outwardly he sighed but inwardly he was used to this by now. It had been five months since he had joined the Whitebeard Pirates and he had yet to move from the other three boys’ room. Law would like to say that he had been procrastinating about it but that was far from the truth. The truth was that any time that he even spoke about moving to a different room, Luffy (the boy snuggling into his chest), would get this sad look in his eyes and his resolve would crumble. Despite the boy repeatedly asking him to join his crew _and still saying he was going to marry him_ , Law had grown attached to the younger boy. Sure, his resolve towards the two previous things mentioned hadn’t broken yet but… it was cracking. Law could see exactly why everyone on the Whitebeard crew loved the boy. His attitude was like the sun shining overhead to tell you everything was safe. Which was ironic considering the boy’s Devil Fruit.

            Speaking of the boy’s Devil Fruit, Law looked towards the bracelet marked with a two on it and inwardly groaned. He had recently gotten used to the gravity and _knew_ he would have to upgrade, which he wasn’t looking forward to. It’d limit the work he could do at the infirmary until he could freely move his hands. _Sure_ , he could not upgrade but again, Luffy would look at him with sad eyes even though Law wasn’t sure why refusing an increase in gravity would result in that. But Law digresses, he didn’t want to see those sad eyes because they caused guilt to well up in him. Law then casted a look to his furry friend that was acting as a pillow for the three of them, not four cause the boy was using Law as a pillow. Even though Bepo’s face was neutral whenever Luffy casted those sad looks at Law, Law _knew_ that Bepo was laughing at him inwardly. Bepo was lucky that there was never any reason for Luffy to send those looks his way, only looks that implied how much Luffy thought Bepo was adorable.

            Law then turned his eyes over to the clock on the table beside the bed. There were red numbers glaring at him telling him it was breakfast time and thirty minutes from his first shift. Once again Law sighed before turning to Luffy.

            “Lu-ya, it’s time to get up.” Law said.

            Yes, Law did get caught up in calling Luffy, Lu. It was hard not to. It was also hard not to aw at the grumpy mumble coming from the boy on his chest. Law however just smiled and rolled his eyes and said the magic words he knew _would_ wake the boy up.

            “Lu-ya, it’s breakfast time.” Law said.

            In an instant the boy shot up, as well as his two older brothers. The three were instantly awake and getting dressed so they could go and eat breakfast. Law’s attention drew to the two older boys which prompted a train of thoughts. Ace and Sabo, mostly Ace actually, had vehemently disagreed with Luffy about Law staying in their room permanently. Of course, like the bro-con that Ace was, he eventually crumbled under his brother’s wishes. Sabo had only argued so that Ace wouldn’t call him a traitor. Though if Law was to be honest he was sure it was Bepo’s fur that also helped, Ace always said that Bepo’s fur made it feel like he was sleeping on a cloud. Shaking those thoughts out of his head he got ready as well. He slipped out of his pajama pants, a pair that matched Luffy’s because the boy had begged Izo to make Law some, and started sliding on his everyday clothing. After getting dressed he woke up Bepo who got dressed as well and then turned to Luffy.

            “Lu-ya, I need a new bracelet.” Law said with a wince.

            Ace and Sabo could understand Law’s pain. Getting a new bracelet was always a pain. Luffy just smiled and presented Law with a bracelet that read two point four. Law slipped the bracelet on while taking off the old one and inwardly groaned at the additional seventy-two pounds on his body. The only reason Law could handle such an increase was because of the Amber Lead sickness his body had went through. While it had ravaged his body, when he had finally cured it, it turned out it had made his muscles and organs much stronger and durable. Though to be honest, he was just thankful that curing it got rid of the white splotches. Speaking of things that are poisonous though, Law turned to Sabo.

            “Sabo-ya could you come by the infirmary later?” Law asked.

            Sabo raised a brow and looked at Law questioningly.

            “What for?” He asked.

            Sabo had been asked a lot, practically almost every day, to the infirmary since he ate his Devil Fruit. He just wondered what it was for this time.

            “We were wondering if you could provide us with some more herbs, the list is back at the infirmary.” Law said.

            Sabo nodded and agreed to go over. Because Sabo had eaten the Nature Logia fruit he could create almost any plant, the ones he couldn’t were ones that had been artificially created. If it grew on the planet, then Sabo could make it. It cut down the cost for food supplies exponentially since the only things they had to buy now was meat and animal products because while it came from Nature it didn’t exactly _grow_. Now, he could create land animals but… the meat didn’t exactly taste right, not yet. The voice told him that it would taste weird until he mastered creating animals which would take a long time. Nevertheless, Sabo was very valuable to the chefs and the nurses because of his powers.

            The four boys, plus mink, made their way to the galley as a group, like the usually did every morning. When they got there Luffy bounded up to the buffet table where he got a bunch of pancakes, sausages, and bacon before bounding over to their table where Marco was sitting at.

            “Morning, yoi.” Marco said as he ate and read today’s newspaper.

            “Morning!” Luffy said cheerfully, waving Law over to sit by him.

            The man rolled his eyes and huffed but acquiesced nonetheless. Marco however chuckled, causing Law to glare at him.

            “Is he _still_ asking you to marry him, yoi?” Marco asked mirthfully.

            It was Sabo who answered, having arrived with his plate of food.

            “Mhm, he said it like twelve times yesterday.” Sabo said before taking a bite of his bitter chocolate covered pancakes, moaning in bliss.

            “That’s cause _I am going to marry Torao_.” Luffy whined.

            Ace, who had just arrived, just rolled his eyes.

            “Mhm, sure you are.” Ace said, wrinkling his nose at the bitter chocolate on Sabo’s pancakes before taking a bite of his _normal and sweet_ chocolate covered pancakes and moaning.

            Luffy just pouted and stuck his tongue out at both of his brothers before eating his _white chocolate_ covered pancakes. Marco and Law just rolled their eyes at this, used to the three brothers’ obsession with their favorite chocolate. While Luffy was eating he remembered that he had found something yesterday that he wanted to give to Torao. He wiped his hand off on a napkin before fishing in his pants pocket and pulled out a shiny Belly one thousand coin. He was happy when he found it because there were only a few thousand minted and it was also special for a different reason. He presented it to Law who raised a brow.

            “What’s this for?” Law asked.

            “It’s a commemorative coin! Torao said he liked collecting them so I figured I’d give it to you!” Luffy said cheerfully.

            Law took the coin and looked at it. Sure enough, it was one of the more rarer commemorative coins that he didn’t think he’d get. For a better explanation, back when Rogers was executed, the bank that minted the money, which wasn’t owned by the World Government, had minted out a thousand of the thousand Belly coins with Rogers’ face on them. It was really hard to get them because they were generally in the possession of Nobles for some reason Law didn’t know.

            “This is really rare, where did you get it Lu-ya?” Law asked, admiring the coin.

            “Well, you know how we were docked at that town yesterday?” Luffy asked.

            Law nodded, as did everyone else. They had docked there for a resupply of animal products and other supplies but were only there shortly.

            “Well, there was this stuffy guy wearing weird clothing. He was ignoring me so I, uh, pickpocketed him using my abilities.” Luffy said.

            Everyone’s eyes widened as they realized what Luffy was talking about. Luffy had pickpocketed a noble. Though to Ace and Sabo it explained the huge increase in money in their treasure chest. Nobles always carried obscene amounts of money on them. Law however just laughed after the shock disappeared and ruffled Luffy’s hair. Luffy beamed up at Law with happiness on his face.

            “Thank you, Lu-ya. I’ll be sure to add it to my collection.” Law said with a warm smile.

            His collection which so happened to be plastered on the wall of their room. At first Law was hesitant of doing so, thinking the brothers would complain, they actually didn’t. In fact, they were amazed by it and loved looking at the various commemorative coins.

            Marco smiled at Law as he interacted with the three younger boys. When Law had first came on the ship he was closed off to everyone but Luffy and his fellow doctors. But over the past five months Luffy managed to open up Law to everyone. To be completely honest he wouldn’t be surprised if Law _did_ end up with Luffy. But _if_ the man did anything with Luffy before the boy turned sixteen Marco would hang Law on the crow’s nest by his balls. The boy didn’t even know what sex was yet and Marco was sure nobody would be telling him until he turned thirteen.

            Soon enough they finished their food and parted ways. Luffy always wanted to go with Law to the infirmary to watch him work but Law always told him that he needed to be able to pay attention. So Luffy went off with Ace to go training. Sabo would join them in about thirty minutes as ever since he got his powers he started a garden in an empty room that Oyaji had given him. He loved taking care of it daily as it let him sort out any of his problems.

            Law slowly made his way to the infirmary where Izo was waiting for him. Izo sighed when he saw that Law was having to make considerable effort to move.

            “You increased the weight on the Grav Lock?” Izo asked.

            “Mhm, Lu-ya gave me the new one this morning.” Law grunted in ascent.

            Izo shook his head with a smile before leading Law to the room in the back that was always prepared for him. It was a simple room filled with operating tables and painstakingly created body dummies for people to practice on.

            “Well, I guess we could work on your Takt ability then.” Izo said.

            Law nodded at that, since it was the only thing Law would be able to do until he could freely move his arms without having to exert considerable effort. Like every other day, Law created a Room around the operating table and got to work. The purpose of the exercise was to make it so that Law could use his abilities without having to actually move his hands or hold his sword. Because there would be times where he couldn’t use his arms. So, by training Takt he could telekinetically move his sword or a scalpel and cut with it. It was very much like training a muscle but this muscle was being stubborn. With a glare the unmoving scalpel suddenly flung itself into the ceiling, causing Law to groan. Izo just chuckled, causing Law to turn his glare onto Izo.

            “It’s not funny, it’s irritating.” Law said.

            “I’m sorry but seeing you, someone who’s usually unflappable, get mad at a scalpel is funny. Plus, you know the more effort you put the more stamina it drains so ease on the temper.” Izo said.

            Law sighed because the crossdresser was right. Law’s ability was based entirely on his stamina, which is why if he exerted himself too much it’d drain his life force. Sure, he had learned that the life force he had lost could be replenished by Luffy with his ability. However, he wasn’t going to have Luffy steal someone’s life force every time he exhausted himself. That’s why he was doing this training. With another sigh, Law turned his attention to the scalpel that was embedded in the ceiling. With a different approach, he created the mental image of a hand and reached out with it to grab the scalpel. To his surprise, it worked and the mental hand yanked the scalpel out of the ceiling. He found that by moving the mental hand it’d move the scalpel but it was very mentally draining to do so. Nevertheless, he continued the process, he needed to get it down after all.

            Luffy was currently grinning madly as he stood over his defeated brother, Ace. Ace was grumbling about how he cheated when Sabo came into the training room. When Sabo saw Ace on the floor he raised an eyebrow.

            “Did Luffy beat you again?” Sabo asked.

            “I totally did Sabo!” Luffy cheered.

            Ace grumbled again before getting up.

            “No you cheated.” Ace muttered.

            Sabo looked at Ace with a knowing look.

            “You walked into one of his gravity traps again, didn’t you?” Sabo asked with a smirk.

            Ace blushed beet red at that. Luffy had created an attack, well it was more like the name said and a trap, that allowed him to infuse a part of the ground with his gravity darkness. What this did was when somebody stepped onto the part it was infused with, it dropped a lot of gravity on them. Ace had a habit of not paying attention to the ground and stepping on them. If he had paid attention to the ground he’d be able to see a part of the wood that was subtly darker than the rest. Ace was sure that if he didn’t have the Grav Lock on then he’d have beat his brother. Sabo knew that was false because generally when someone stepped onto the trap they’d trip because of the sudden change in gravity.

            “So, I’m guessing it’s my turn to fight Lu?” Sabo asked.

            Luffy nodded eagerly at that and got back into a ready stance while Ace slinked off to the sidelines. Sabo took his spot opposite of Luffy and readied himself. With a laugh Luffy launched himself at Ace with a Haki filled punch. Sadly, the hit didn’t land because at the last second Sabo scattered himself into a bunch of leaves and petals. Reforming behind Luffy, Sabo swept his feet under Luffy, tripping him. Luffy however was used to this by now so he used his forward momentum to spring into a handstand and flip back onto his feet. Tapping his foot twice on the floor he charged at Sabo again. Sabo instinctively dispersed himself but that ended up being his downfall. This was because as soon as he did Luffy dispersed himself as well and wrapped himself around the area that Sabo took up. He then slowly coalesced his form which caused Sabo to do the same, now in a headlock from Luffy. Before Sabo could struggle and escape the headlock Luffy hefted Sabo up and flung him behind him, aiming straight for one of the gravity traps he set by tapping his foot. Sabo saw the trap and panicked, trying to disperse but it was too late because his clothing touched the trap and activated it. Gravity slammed into Sabo, restraining him to the floor. With a smirk Luffy launched himself onto Sabo and sat on his chest.

            “I win.” Luffy said with a grin.

            Sabo sighed before his body slumped.

            “Alright, you win.” Sabo said.

            Ace was snickering off at the side because Sabo had lost for the same reason that he did, albeit in a different way. That eased his bruising ego a bit. The three boys went at it like this for about an hour more, rotating the fights as they went. It ended up with Luffy beating Ace again but Sabo managing to beat Luffy and Ace triumphing over Sabo. The reason that Sabo lost against Ace was the fact that Ace burned any plants that got close to him so Sabo needed to find a plant that could resist that amount of heat. Which is what prompted his visit to the library before he would head to the infirmary to provide them with herbs.

            The library of the Moby Dick was rather grand and big. This was partially because a lot of the pirates liked to read and learn. The other reason was, as pirates they plundered treasure and other things from other pirates, marines, and nobles. The other ‘things’ tended to be books and such thus why they had a large collection of reading material. The library was managed, surprisingly, by Whitey. The woman was very much a tomboy, although to be honest _most_ female pirates were since there was no room for fancy dresses in a fight. She liked fighting, drinking, and bragging about her achievements but she also loved to curl up with a good book. So, it was with fury when she saw the disarray that the library was in when she joined that she became the unofficial librarian. Thus, she was the person who Sabo ran into when he entered the library with Luffy. Ace wasn’t with them because he didn’t like learning from books, though he did like stories but he was still only halfway through his current book.

            “Oh! Hey there kiddos.” She said, shelving a book back into its place.

            Luffy waved cheerfully while Sabo just smiled and angled his head towards her, acknowledging her presence. Letting her blade detach from the bookshelf, she descended to the floor with a woosh. Sabo always found it unique how Whitey would scale the large bookshelves with daggers rather than a ladder. He had asked her how the bookshelves were still in one piece after all this time and she said that they were durable and she always made sure to use the same handholds. Anyhow, Whitey made her way over to the duo, sheathing her daggers at her hips.

            “Whatchya two need?” She asked.

            Luffy shuffled forward excitedly and spoke first.

            “I want a new physics book!” Luffy said eagerly.

            He had finished his last one which was a book on intermediate level physics and Luffy was still intrigued. Whitey nodded and winked at Luffy before backflipping onto a bookshelf, scaling it with her daggers before she darted off from bookshelf to bookshelf to find his book. Normally Whitey wasn’t this flashy, she preferred subtly to dramatics. But the look in the kid’s eyes when she showed off made her smile, so for Luffy she did flashy. Minutes later she reappeared by jumping off a bookshelf with a large text in hand that said _‘Advanced Physics_ ’ and handed it to Luffy.

            “Thank you, Whitey-sensei!” Luffy said, bowing, causing the woman to smile and ruffle his hair.

            She chuckled at that, the boy had recently taken to calling her Whitey-sensei because ‘ _she taught him all kinds of cool stuff’_ as he said. Sabo just smiled and rolled his eyes before asking for his book.

            “I need either a book on fire islands that have plants or plants that can survive magma.” Sabo said.

            “Ooh, a challenge. I like it.” She said before heading off.

            Minutes later she came back with three books in hand. The first read _‘Weird Islands in the New World and Their Plants’_ , the second read _‘Top 100 Weird Plants and Explanations for their Weirdness’_ , and the last read _‘Volcano and Magma Islands: What Are They?’_. With a smile she handed them over to Sabo.

            “Alright, those were the best I could find. Remember, don’t forget to return them when you’re done.” She said before waving them off.

            Luffy and Sabo said their goodbyes and then made their way back to their room. Luffy wanted to start reading his book but Sabo didn’t want to leave him alone in the room. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lu, the complete opposite. The problem was, when Luffy started reading something he got lost in it and forgot to do basic things that he needed to do, like eating or going to the bathroom. So, Ace and Sabo had decided it best that Luffy had someone with him while he was reading so they could remind him to do those things. When Sabo reminded Luffy of this he just grumbled and nodded.

            “Hey, you’re coming with me so don’t look angry, you’ll see Law.” Sabo said, knowing it’d do the trick.

            And it did, Luffy instantly perked up and looked really eager to go to the infirmary. Which was hilarious in and of itself since Luffy disliked shots, well they _all_ hated shots but that’s digression. If it had been four months ago though, Sabo wouldn’t exactly be using Law as leverage for fear of Ace’s wraith. But it was around that time that Ace had realized that if Lu _did_ end up with Law it’d be the best-case scenario. Because it was better a person that they _knew and trusted_ to be dating and married to their little brother than a complete stranger they knew nothing about. So, Sabo led the way to the infirmary.

            It was at the infirmary that they found Law sitting at a desk with Izo sitting at another, both going over paperwork. Luffy smiled widely when he saw Law and tackled the man, causing him to grunt.

            “Torao!” Luffy said, clinging to the man.

            “Hey there Lu-ya.” Law said, turning in his chair to catch Luffy in his lap.

            Izo chuckled from behind him and stood up, seeing that Sabo was here.

            “Ah Sabo, you’re here to help us with our herbs?” Izo asked.

            Sabo nodded, leaving Luffy to Law who was entertaining him with his ability by making things float around in the sphere. Izo led Sabo over to a table set up against the wall with a list that had pictures of each plant they needed. Seconds later, Sabo got to work creating the herbs. Generating plants was always an interesting process. He had to understand first, where the plant grew. This helped him visualize the environment the plant needed to grow. Next, he had to know what the plant looked like, this let him visualize the plant _in_ the environment. After that he slowly formed the herbs onto the table. It took him a while and a few bars of chocolate but he was now staring at a table filled with all kinds of herbs.

            Meanwhile, Luffy had fallen asleep in Law’s lap with the man stroking the younger boy’s hair. To be honest, if you had told him five months ago that he’d be in a situation like this he’d have called you insane and hid your body parts. He hadn’t really been attached to anyone since Cora-san, having closed off his heart for the idea of revenge against that bastard Doflamingo. But… it was really hard not to get attached to Luffy. Despite the fact he had said that his resolve regarding joining Luffy’s crew _and_ accepting his marriage proposal was diamond strong it was slowly cracking. Let’s start with the second part, the whole marriage thing. _Normally,_ even _if_ Law didn’t close off his emotions he would never think about marrying someone who was seven years younger than him and a minor. That was asking to be branded a pedophile, which Law wasn’t. But… whenever Luffy mentioned that he would be marrying ‘Torao’ there was a look in his eyes as if he _understood_ , understood Law’s pain. Like the boy wanted to make it all better. Now, again, normally Law hated any and all types of pity. But what came from Luffy’s eyes wasn’t pity but something he hadn’t seen since Corazon, pure unadulterated love. However, the thing was, the love that was coming from Luffy’s eyes was a bit different. It kinda struck Law hard because he remembered seeing that kind of look before, the look his parents had gave each other. Which meant that the younger boy _actually_ did love him. And if he _had_ to admit to himself the younger boy was adorable and cute, again not a pedophile. Because, if he did accept the boy’s proposal they wouldn’t be doing _anything intimate_ until he was of age at sixteen. This was because, _again not a pedophile_ , and because he was pretty damn sure he’d be castrated by everyone on this ship if he tried anything before then. But to tell the truth, _if_ _he did accept it_ , he wouldn’t accept it vocally until the boy was thirteen or fourteen, old enough for puberty to kick in. Because otherwise that’s a relationship disaster waiting to happen. And despite Law’s conflicting thoughts, he smiled at Luffy’s sleeping form, because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have his life any other way than it was right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this bundle of fluff. Law continuing to sleep in the trio’s room is a product of both Luffy’s determination and Ace and Sabo’s refusal to part with the fluffiness that is Bepo. I would love more suggestions because all I have an idea of for chapter eleven is filler with expanding on Kuzan’s relationship with Robin and then chapter twelve getting Brook. I might start speeding things up after that to canon.


	10. Adventures on Reversal Island!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 10 of To Save A Brother’s Life. This story, unlike Donquixote Prince which now has a total of three chapters in its stock, has none in its stock. So, I’ll be attempting to fill the chapter stock by Friday. This chapter covers the introduction of Robin! Now, the next chapter as far as I know will be another filler chapter covering Robin getting used to life with Luffy and gang. Then it’ll be a chapter with Brook and then a few chapters, maybe two, as we slowly slide into Luffy aging into seventeen. After that happens we’ll be starting canon. As much as I would like to do pure fluff, I’d run out of ideas real fast. As for the other ones, I finished the eight chapter yesterday which covers before the Reverie in Donquixote Prince and Death’s Gift isn’t getting updated till I really run out of chapters because after chapter 20 it’s going to be fluff and training. DOT hasn’t had a chance to get more chapters because I’ve been scrambling to get chapters for Donquixote Prince and TSABL, but I’ll write some more hopefully soon and get it posted as soon as I reach ten chapters or more. For those who read the test chapter for Giving Humanity a Chance, the HP/SP story, that won’t be continued until May 1st because that story’s going to be part of the Camp NaNoWriMo project. I still need to get the first few season dvds of Supernatural ugh. Anyways onwards we go.

            Okay, a thirteen-year-old Luffy was completely lost. He was currently wandering around in a jungle, lost. Which to him was weird cause he rarely got lost. Sure, he had a compass on him as that was one of the many things he stored in his pocket dimension. But that didn’t help when he didn’t know which direction town was. You’d think that his Kenbunshoku Haki would help but _for some reason_ this island was making it go haywire. He couldn’t sense a single thing but the animals around him _and oddly his own emotions_. With a groan Luffy laid against the nearest tree. He had tried to use his fruit powers earlier but _they too_ had gone haywire. It was times like this that he used one of the curse words Ace used. This island was one big _clusterfuck_.

            The day had started out pretty normal. He had woken up with his brothers and Torao and they went to breakfast. Torao went off to the infirmary as usual and he and his brothers had their weekly chores to do. Around two in the afternoon, Marco told them they were docking soon at the island and they could explore if they wanted. He however warned them that they had only ever visited the town on the island and never the jungle so they needed to be wary. Luffy, however, ignored that comment and as soon as they docked, he dashed into the forest, hoping to find some animals to fight. Which brings Luffy here, lying against a tree, lost.

            Suddenly though, the bushes rustled and Luffy prepared for a fight. What he didn’t expect was an older woman with long black hair wearing gear fit for archaeology come out of the vegetation. Luffy cheered and tackled the woman, confusing her.

            “YES! A person! Hi there I’m Luffy!” Luffy said, making sure to introduce himself.

            Even if he was lost he still needed to keep his manners. Makino had ingrained that much into him.

            “I’m Robin, but why are you so happy, Luffy-san?” She asked.

            Nico Robin had been exploring the jungle, having heard rumors of a Poneglyph in the area of this island. She hadn’t been expecting anyone else in the jungle, let alone a kid.

            “I’m lost! And for some reason my powers are going wonky here!” Luffy whined.

            Sure, Luffy knew it was a bad idea to reveal that he was weak in front a stranger. But, he was pretty sure he could still defend himself. After all, despite his powers being off he could still access his pocket dimension and his weapons.

            “Powers?” She asked.

            Was this kid a Devil Fruit user? And if he did, what did he mean by his powers going wonky here? As far as she knew this island was normal, not really having found the Poneglyph she was looking for.

            “Yeah! I’m a Devil Fruit user! I can also use Kenbunshoku Haki but they’re not working how they should here!” Luffy said.

            To demonstrate, Luffy let the Darkness pour off him. _But it was whitish-yellow instead of blackish-purple._ When the bright substance touched a nearby bird, it suddenly zoomed and slammed itself into a tree.

            “Is it not supposed to do that?” She asked, curiously.

            If it wasn’t then this was a _wonderful_ discovery. While her dream was to find the Rio Poneglyph, it was also to learn new things and document them. If this was something new she _had_ to document it.

            “No! It’s supposed to manipulate the bird’s gravity!” Luffy said.

            Robin raised an eyebrow at that before crossing her arms. She focused and used her Devil Fruit power. What happened shocked her, instead of an arm and hand appearing on the ground, a translucent arm and hand appeared. She approached it and looked at it, examining it before nudging it with her foot. A sudden shiver went over her right arm as if something _deep_ in her was touched. Luffy however, was just awed at it.

            “ _THAT’S SO COOL!”_ Luffy shouted.

            Robin was a bit taken back at that. Her powers had been called freakish before but never cool. She smiled a bit at that, this kid was pretty unique in a world filled with judgmental people. However, despite her interest she needed to focus, because she believed she understood what was happening.

            “Luffy-san what is the exact nature of your Devil Fruit?” She asked.

            Luffy smiled at that and answered.

            “It’s the Yami Yami no Mi! I’m a Darkness Human! I can do all kinds of things like manipulate gravity, access pocket dimensions, or take someone’s life force! NO! I wasn’t supposed to say the last part!” Luffy said, freaking out at saying the last part.

            Robin giggled before catching herself in shock. She… hadn’t laughed in a long time but this little boy here was doing the impossible. She giggled again when she saw the pout on his face at her laughing at him. But she also still saw the panic on his face, despite how hidden it was. Reading people since you were eight kinda helped.

            “It’s okay Luffy-san, I won’t tell anyone. But those are cool powers.” She said with a  soft smile.

            Instantly the panic disappeared and the boy’s glowing smile that somehow warmed her heart reappeared. While that happened she was slightly in awe. As an archaeologist and researcher she had read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and one of her interests were the Six Judgements. The fact that the boy in front of her could use its legendary power told her this boy had a pure heart. Inwardly she laughed because a pure heart in a corrupted world was a rare thing and it gave her hope. But the boy seemed to be looking at her eagerly so she decided to explain.

            “I think, Luffy-san, that this island reverses a person’s Devil Fruit and Haki abilities. Because what your powers did are what the Pika Pika no Mi, or the Light Light Fruit does.” She said.

            Luffy oohed and aahed at the explanation.

            “Then what’s your power?” Luffy asked.

            “I ate the Hana Hana no Mi or the Flower Flower Fruit. I can sprout parts of my body anywhere I like. But it seems that I’m sprouting my soul instead of my physical body.” She said.

            Luffy once again, oohed and aahed, causing the woman to giggle. Luffy then pouted again, confusing her.

            “What’s wrong Luffy-san?” She asked.

            “I don’t know where the town is and my family is probably worried about me.” Luffy said.

            Ah, she figured the boy probably had some family with him.

            “Do you live on this island?” She asked.

            Luffy shook his head.

            “Nope! I live with pirates! They’re the greatest! There’s Marco, Thatch, my big brothers Ace and Sabo, Torao, Oyaji, and so many more!” Luffy gushed.

            She paused at that before looking at the boy again. Sure, enough on the boy’s hoodie was the jolly roger of the Whitebeard Pirates. She wasn’t too sure about how interactions with those kinds of pirates would go. But then again, from how the boy talked about them, they couldn’t be _too bad_. With a shrug of her shoulders she decided she’d help the boy, not knowing it’d change her lifestyle of running and hiding.

            “Let’s see if we can’t find the town. I don’t know where it is because I arrived on the other side of the island. But hey, it can’t be too hard, right Luffy-san?” She asked with a smile.

            Luffy cheered and followed the woman as they explored the jungle, choosing a random direction. As they explored, Luffy told her all about the Whitebeard Pirates and his family. Of course, Luffy also told her about Torao! The man he was definitely going to marry. He pouted when she giggled at that.

            “Hey! I am going to marry him!” Luffy said.

            She smiled at him before she hacked away another bit of foliage blocking their way.

            “It’s just, you’re so determined about it for a ten year-old, Luffy-san.” She said.

            Luffy aahed at that before getting a somber look.

            “I’m going to marry him because he needs somebody to make him happy.” Luffy said seriously.

            She was a bit shocked at that reply and wanted to know exactly what he meant.

            “What do you mean about by that Luffy-san? Is Torao a depressed person?” She asked.

            “Not exactly… Torao seems happy on the outside but on the inside I can feel that he’s really sad. Like he’s lost somebody and is wallowing in revenge.” Luffy said.

            Feel on the inside? That caught her interest like a hook on a biting fish.

            “Feel?” She asked, clearing another bit of foliage.

            “Yeah, according to Izo and Marco I have something called the Voice of All Things.” Luffy said.

            Huh, that was something she had never heard of. Which was surprising because she prided herself on knowing a lot of things.

            “What is this ‘Voice of All Things’?” She asked.

            “According to them, it allows me to hear the voices of everything from inanimate objects to animals to plants to even people! I could also hear the voice from this weird rock thing with weird symbols when I found my brother’s Devil Fruit!” Luffy said.

            Robin froze in place when she heard the last bit. Luffy had found a Poneglyph? She turned to him with hopeful eyes and asked him what it said.

            “Ah, it was something about the three hundredth Heavenly Year and how the Twenty Kingdoms had hunted them down for the fruit.” Luffy said.

            The hope faded from her eyes as she realized it wasn’t the Rio Poneglyph. A little light returned to her eyes as she reasoned that at least it was something.

            “Hey Robin, why were you so eager to know about the stone?” He asked.

            “Ah, well my dream is to find something called the Rio Poneglyph, it tells the True History of the Void Century.” She said.

            Luffy perked up at that before cheerfully asking a question.

            “Hey! You should join my crew! I’m planning to be Pirate King and that means I’m bound to find this Rio Poneglyph thing, right?!” Luffy said.

            Robin giggled at that before replying.

            “Aren’t you part of the Whitebeard Pirates?” She asked.

            “I guess? But not really! Oyaji said that when I turn seventeen I can become the leader of a new division, the Seventeenth Divison or the Straw Hat Pirates Division! He said he didn’t mind if I became Pirate King.” Luffy said.

            Whitebeard must really care about the boy if he was offering that to Luffy. She voiced that much. Luffy however gave her an odd look with his head tilted.

            “Ah, I mean, Oyaji cares about all of his sons and daughters. We’re all family, after all.” Luffy said.

            She smiled at that. Family, that sounded like a wonderful concept. Especially to a woman who’s family was ripped away from her when she was eight. She decided to return the conversation to the earlier topic about Torao.

            “So, why do you want to make Torao happy?” She asked, curiously

            Luffy gave a semi-blissful smile that Robin briefly identified as a look of someone in love. That was _really_ odd for her because she didn’t know ten year-olds could have that feeling. Sure, they could love a book or their parents, but another person not related to them? In the romantic sense that she could tell that it was?

            “I briefly managed to sense happiness in Torao and… it was beautiful. It made me feel warm inside and really happy, like I could just drown in that feeling and never move.” Luffy said.

            She raised a brow at that.

            “So you’re doing it for the feeling?” She asked.

            Luffy furiously shook his head.

            “No! It’s nice and all but the fact that it was radiating from Torao made me happy. I like seeing him happy. But even then, there’s this feeling that I feel that I _can’t_ identify. I’ve never felt it before, not even on a person.” Luffy mumbled.

            Well, that made sense. If you never had encountered an emotion before and you suddenly felt it then you’d be confused. So, she decided to ask a question concerning it.

            “Have you felt something familiar to it?” She asked.

            Luffy nodded.

            “Mhm, it’s slightly similar to the emotion that Pop’s feels when he looks at us and what I feel for my brothers. But… it’s not _exactly that_.” Luffy said, wringing his hands.

            Robin giggled before it turned into an outright chuckle. Luffy once again pouted at her for laughing at him. She held her hands up in surrender before speaking.

            “Luffy-san. What Whitebeard-san is feeling is more than likely _familial love_. Which stands to reason that what you’re feeling is _romantic love_.” She said.

            “Romantic love? What’s that?” He asked.

            Inwardly she was laughing. She was on a strange island, giving emotional advice to a ten year-old. The entire idea of the situation was ironic considering she had her own emotional problems.

            “Hmm, well think of it like this, you like your brothers, right?” She asked.

            Luffy nodded furiously with a smile.

            “Mhm! Ace and Sabo are amazing!” Luffy cheered.

            “But would you want to marry them and adopt kids with them?” She asked.

            Luffy thought about it. He knew what marriage was, Izo had explained it to him, hence why he kept using the word with Torao. But the thought of being married to his brothers while not exactly a no was still a negative. But that was because Sabo and Ace had to get married and Luffy wasn’t entirely sure about being polyamorous with them. _Yes Luffy knew what that word was too, he knew things damnit_. Considering the kids thing that was a definite no at the moment. But when he thought of marrying Torao his heart fluttered. Heck just thinking about being around Torao made his heart flutter. When he thought about the kids thing, he pictured a mini version of him with dark blue hair wearing a hat like Torao’s. That image made him smile.

            “Ah, I see you have your answer then.” Robin said with a smile.

            Luffy nodded before they carried on. About five minutes later Luffy stumbled and fell into a hole that appeared below him, causing Robin to jump in after him. Luffy groaned and stood up, brushing dust off him.

            “This is the second time I’ve gone into a forest or jungle and fell into a hole.” Luffy grumbled.

            Robin was looking around and was awed when in front of her was an altar that had a chest of metal as well as a few necklaces made out of the metal. But that wasn’t what shocked her, what shocked her was the giant stone behind the altar that held familiar symbols. She quickly pulled out her notepad and began writing as she read it.

            “In the three hundred and twentieth Heavenly Year, we have found this island. This island confused us when it reversed the powers of our Devil Fruit users. We later found out that it is because this island has an enormous deposit of metal in it that emanates a wavelength that reverses the powers. With a bit of crafting we were able to make necklaces out of the metal and found that it negates the reversion. However, we also discovered that when worn off the island, the reversion occurs again. This could be useful for our fight against the Twenty Kingdoms.” Robin read, having finished writing faster than she read.

            That prompted her to pick up two necklaces and put one on herself and the other on Luffy. Luffy suddenly perked up when his Kenbunshoku Haki returned to normal and he could tell where the town was.

            “Woo! It works!” Luffy cheered.

            Robin nodded and smiled before turning to the metal.

            “How are we going to get that out of here?” She mused.

            Luffy just smiled before picking the chest up and pushing it into the air. Suddenly the air rippled and the chest went _through_ the air, distorting everything around it. He did the exact same thing with the necklaces.

            “Well, that works too.” Robin said.

            Luffy nodded before he started walking on air, manipulating gravity to let him stand on it. Soon enough he got out and was followed by a spiral staircase made of arms that Robin used to get out. Luffy then led them out of the jungle and into the town. When they got there Luffy was tackled by Ace and Sabo, a worried looking Law behind them.

            “Luffy! Where were you! You’ve been gone for hours!” Ace shouted.

            “Ah, I got lost! This island messed with my powers!” Luffy said.

            Ace and Sabo gave him a confused look.

            “AGH! Just use your powers.” Luffy said, frustrated.

            Ace shrugged and tried to push magma out, instead the floor beneath him instantly froze solid. Sabo did the same and instead of plants, gusts of wind came out. Law just raised his eyebrow, not wanting to try if Luffy had been correct. Because he was pretty sure if his ability was reversed, then his body would break into separate parts. After all, the opposite of the Ope Ope no Mi was the Bara Bara no Mi.

            “What the hell?!” Ace shouted, staring at the ice on the ground.

            Robin chose to speak up and explain.

            “Ah, you must be Ace-san. This island has a metal that exudes a property that causes powers to be reversed.” Robin explained.

            Ace, Sabo, and Law turned their attention to Robin, just now noticing her.

            “Who are you?” Sabo asked politely.

            “This is Robin! She helped me get out! She’s joining my crew!” Luffy said eagerly.

            Robin just giggled at his exuberance. Despite the fact, she hadn’t said one way or another the boy was still going on about it. _Perhaps_ there would be a chance for her? Robin bowed and introduced herself, first name only, obviously. She didn’t want to freak out the residents of the town.

            “Luffy-san is correct, I’m Robin. Though, Luffy-san I haven’t agreed to accept your offer.” Robin said teasingly with a smile.

            Luffy pouted at that before speaking.

            “But Robin has to join! I can tell Robin is sad on the inside!” Luffy said.

            Robin froze at that before turning to Luffy.

            “What exactly do you feel?” She asked, more curious than panicky.

            “Ah, I feel sadness, pain, loneliness, fear, and uh self-loathing?” Luffy said, confused at the last one.

            Truly, he wasn’t exactly sure about that one. He means, it felt _awfully_ familiar to how Ace felt when Luffy first met him. And Sabo had explained to him that Ace was self-loathing so… maybe that was it. Robin however looked like a deer in the headlights when Luffy explained the emotions. He was exactly spot on with the emotions, scarily so. Luffy, aware of her inner conflict just smiled and hugged her, causing her posture to relax.

            “Everyone deserves to be happy!” Luffy said.

            Luffy then dragged Robin to the Moby Dick where he introduced her to everyone. He seemed to ignore the odd looks that were sent her way but Robin recognized them. She recognized them as people realizing exactly who she was. She couldn’t fault Ace, Sabo, and Torao for not noticing since they didn’t seem like one to pay attention to old bounty posters. However, even though they seemed to notice her they just smiled and waved, occasionally introducing themselves. After doing that Luffy seemed to drag her down to the galley, saying it was time for dinner. When they got there Luffy just told her to grab what she wanted. After she did he dragged her to a table where a blonde haired man and a crossdressing man were waiting.

            “So, what brings you to the Moby Dick, Nico Robin, yoi?” The blonde haired man said, causing her to stiffen.

            “She’s going to join my crew! Cause she has a dream to see something called the Rio Ponygryff.” Luffy said, stumbling over the last word.

            “Poneglyph, Luffy-san.” She said offhandedly.

            “Yeah that!” Luffy said, digging into his hamburger.

            Marco nodded before turning to have conversation with Izo. If Luffy approved of the woman then the World Government’s reason for her bounty had to be false. But then again, he really didn’t trust anything that the World Government said to begin with. If Luffy wanted her to join his crew and she accepted then it wasn’t his business to disapprove.

            “So, what’s with those matching necklaces?” Izo asked.

            Robin and Luffy then realized they were still wearing the metal necklaces and promptly took them off, realizing that they weren’t on the island anymore.

            “Ah, the stone thing said they stop the island from reversing our powers but if we wear them off island our powers get reversed.” Luffy said.

            Marco and Izo raised a brow at that, prompting Robin to answer.

            “The island has a metal that reverses the Haki and Devil Fruit Powers. Luffy-san’s powers changed to that of the Pika Pika no Mi.” Robin explained.

            That caused Marco to gain an interested look on his face.

            “I wonder what it’d do to me, yoi?” Marco asked, reaching for the necklace.

            Instantly Izo slapped his hand away.

            “No! You are not putting the necklace on.” Izo said firmly.

            “Why not, yoi?” Marco asked.

            Izo gave Marco a look before answering.

            “You’re a phoenix Marco.” Izo said, as if that’d answer anything.

            “Yeah, and, yoi?” He asked.

            Robin giggled before she explained it to Marco.

            “Marco-san. The opposite of a phoenix is a Basilisk, a snake that can kill with its eyes and has deadly poison that causes agonizing deaths. What crossdresser-san is trying to say is that it’d be a very bad idea.” Robin said.

            “My name’s Izo, but thanks for explaining it to him.” Izo said, thanking her.

            Robin just waved it off and giggled again at Marco’s look of horror.

            “Uh, alright then I’m never stepping a foot on this island, yoi.” Marco said, causing everyone to laugh.

            Luffy then remembered that he grabbed the chest of metal.

            “Hey! I grabbed a chest that had the metal in it! Couldn’t we turn it into a weapon?” Luffy asked.

            Marco seemed to think about it but Robin was the one who came up with an idea.

            “You could grind down the metal to a powder and coat weapons with it. It’d cause the powder to get into the wounds and into the bloodstream.” She offered.

            Izo nodded at that idea.

            “It could work. That’d mean they’d be unable to use their normal powers until the blood filters out the powder.” Izo said.

            By now Ace, Sabo, and Law had arrived. Apparently the two younger boys wanted to try out their reversed powers. Judging by the bruises on Ace’s face, he probably slipped a lot on his ice. Sabo’s hair in turn though looked really ruffled, probably from the wind that his reversed nature to weather powers generated. The three had overheard the conversation though and Ace had a question.

            “How exactly would that be beneficial to us?” Ace asked.

            Surprisingly Law took this question.

            “Because, it’d disorient them severely because as you’ve seen using powers completely different from ones you are used to is hard.” Law said.

            After he finished speaking he gave a pointed look at Ace who blushed red.

            “I can see that, especially for Jozu.” Sabo said.

            Everyone turned to Sabo with curious looks on their faces, except for Luffy. Because of Luffy’s knowledge of physics, he _somewhat_ understood what Sabo was talking about. So, Sabo answered the questions in their heads.

            “The opposite of Diamond, the hardest material with zero elasticity, would be Rubber, a material that can easily be cut and has infinite elasticity. I don’t think Jozu knows how to fight as a Rubber Human.” Sabo said.

            Okay, now Luffy fully understood, as did everyone else. Although, Ace was curious about something.

            “What about the more confusing fruits, like that one I read about that lets you turn your body into spikes?” Ace asked.

            “Well, if we ever encounter someone with that fruit we’ll see what happens, yoi.” Marco said.

            The conversation then dissolved into random stuff before Marco said he wanted to introduce Robin to Pops. The event happened just like it did with Law. Pops asked what her intentions where and she answered. He just smiled and she then told him her true past. Pops told her that he didn’t mind at all and she was welcome to stay. And somehow, just like with Law, she was convinced to stay. In fact, she was convinced enough to join Luffy’s crew. And Luffy was really happy because he had his first official crew mate, other than Kuzan! Ace and Sabo didn’t count because they’re his brothers and Law was still refusing. But Luffy was sure that he’d manage to convince the man. Speaking of Kuzan, Luffy was wondering when the man was going to return from his mission. The man had been going on various missions so as to not draw attention to the main Moby Dick ship. Though from how Robin reacted when they mentioned Kuzan she seemed a bit confused. But how could she not be, the man who had aided in the destruction of Ohara was with Luffy. But Luffy figured they’d deal with it when the man got back. Afterall, he was just happy that he had a new crew member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed that! I know that you’re probably a bit concerned about the Reversal Metal (not the official name yet) but it’ll be used for hilarious moments because this is meant to be sort of a light-hearted fic. Also, I was at first a bit worried that I couldn’t reach four thousand words (my usual cut off point if I don’t have anything else to write for the chapter) but as I wrote I finally reached it and was happy. Some of you may be miffed because there’s a lack of interactions behind Robin and the WB Pirates but like I said in the beginning AN, it’s going to be covered in the next chapter, hopefully. Also, concerning Brook and when his shadow was taken I’m shifting it back about almost two years. That way because Luffy’s thirteen in this chapter, Brook’s shadow isn’t already taken. Gimme suggestions about what you want me to do canon wise since we’re nearing that part of the story. Who to recruit, what to do? Also people please read this. Some of you have been suggesting about Law and his crew running into Luffy. That’s not going to happen considering the fact that Law is going to break at one point and agree. So, yeah. Anyways thanks for reading!


	11. A Bottle Filled With Hope!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter Eleven! I do apologize about the length but it partially has to do with the fact that this is a filler so as multiple people aren’t joining in consecutive chapters. In a few chapters after this, canon will be starting so there’s that. This chapter covers Robin’s meeting with Kuzan as well as something else happening. I will need to write another chapter for this as this is the only one I have but it shouldn’t take me long. Anyways onwards to the story.

            Robin’s transition into Luffy’s group was smooth as butter. In fact, she could be seen often going along with Luffy’s pranks and helping him with them. Marco figured it was because of her lack of a childhood as to why she had an inner child. Though he still was forlorn about the fact that a lot of Luffy’s pranks now succeed thanks to Robin’s ability to tell if anyone was coming. Of course, unlike Law she ended up with her own room but her room was positioned right next to the quintet’s. Her reasoning was simply that the bed was too full for her to join in and then she walked away with a smirk on her face.

            Robin’s job on the ship ended up being that of a researcher. She spent a lot of her time, the time that she wasn’t spending with her captain, in the library. There she studied all the books and had come up with plenty of research by cross-referencing all the information. This was helpful because there were a lot of books that hadn’t been read yet and contained valuable information. In fact, some of the books were medical research journals that had wonderful information and ideas that Robin was able to prove had some basis to them by cross-referencing them with sources of other books. Of course she was also really interested in researching the trio’s Devil Fruit abilities because she had never really heard of the Judgement Fruits, Devil Fruits not really being her source of study.

            Beyond researching, she had also joined the trio in training. This had started after she had admitted that her style was that of an assassin so she wasn’t exactly good at close-up combat. If somebody managed to get up in her face she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Another weakness of hers was that she had yet to get rid of the gesture that she needed in order to activate her powers. Plus, it helped that Luffy ended up coming up with the most brilliant ideas, in her opinion, about what she could potentially do with her powers. One of the ideas was the ability to completely clone herself which she found really interesting And of course, like everyone else, she had started on the GravLock bracelets.

            There had been a hilarious moment though where she had been confused when everybody had been referring to Luffy as a thirteen year old. Everyone kinda laughed, not at her but at Luffy, when she revealed that she had thought him to be a ten year old. That had caused Luffy to blush beat red and mutter about how it wasn’t his fault he didn’t really like vegetables or milk. Well, actually to be honest, nowadays he liked vegetables because they were produced by Sabo’s Devil Fruit. The vegetables that were produced via that way were much more delicious and tasty which is why Luffy liked them.

            Then came about three months into her life on the Moby Dick and Kuzan returned. Luffy was clearly nervous about introducing the two because Kuzan had told him in a letter about Robin’s relationship with him about a month after she joined. He had said that she might not be very happy about seeing him, especially since he had participated in the Buster Call on Ohara. When Marco had brought word to Luffy that Kuzan was back, Luffy had went to grab Robin to reintroduce the two. Ace and Sabo were busy with their chores, Ace’s having to do with helping the blacksmith on the ship by providing lava and Sabo by helping cook in the kitchen. Luffy had finished his earlier that day because his involved helping Blamenco fix the ship.

            “Luffy-san where are we going?” Robin asked as Luffy pulled her along to an undisclosed location.

            “I’m introducing you to the first person who joined my crew. He’s been off on a mission for Pops.” Luffy said, biting his lip.

            Robin rose a brow at that, her life experience having taught her to pick up minor signals a person puts off or micro expressions. In fact, it had been a hobby of hers to people watch. She could tell that Luffy was nervous about something but she decided not to push it. Soon enough though they reached a door and Luffy opened it up. Robin paused for a second in her step when she saw who was in the room. Sitting at a desk that was situated to the left of a bed was a man wearing a blue bandana with black hair that fanned out. The man was also wearing a blue-green trench coat, although that probably wasn’t all because she couldn’t see the front. However, the presence of the man, the cold air that emanated from around him instantly made her aware of who he was.

            “Kuzan. So, I see the rumors were true.” She said calmly.

            The man set down his pen and turned around in the chair. Sure enough it was Kuzan but the man was wearing a pair of sunglasses as well as a white shirt with a v-neck. He gave Robin a soft smile, as well as Luffy one.

            “I see Luffy drew you in as well Nico Robin.” Kuzan said.

            Robin nodded stiffly before she relaxed when Luffy gave her a smile. She figured if Luffy trusted him then she should as well. Besides, she had eased her thoughts about the man ever since the rumors had started. Years back there had been rumors about Kuzan leaving the Marines but nobody had offered a reason as to why. So instead her thoughts had focused on Akainu, or Sakazuki. That man was somebody for her to fear completely as he had massacred an entire cruise ship of innocent people just to make sure nobody got out safely. Though, there had been rumors about the man losing his Devil Fruit and gaining a different one, from her observations of Ace’s fighting she figured the rumor was true. Though it had been proved when Luffy explained his Devil Fruit’s abilities to be honest. Anyhow, Robin wandered over and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking Kuzan in the eyes, so to say.

            “So, what brought you to Luffy here?” She asked, smiling when Luffy chose a seat to her left.

            Kuzan slipped his sunglasses off and set them off to the side. He figured _had_ figured that the person Luffy was going to bring would prevent him from finishing his report. His mission had consisted of him keeping an eye on the Whitebeard territories that were targets of Big Mom, specifically Fishman Island and Applenine Island. While at Fishman Island though he had befriended a few of the citizens there. Anywho, he drew himself out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand.

            “I asked his grandfather to introduce me. Luffy had a refreshing view on things and I really believe he can change the world.” Kuzan said.

            Robin nodded at that, absentmindedly running a hand through her hair. To be completely honest to herself, she felt the same about the boy. Luffy didn’t have a filter which she was really happy about because it meant he wouldn’t lie. And the stuff he talked about was really nice, especially about how he viewed the world. Despite how innocent his view seemed, it lacked the naivety behind it. Whenever he talked about it, his voice had a tone that spoke of him knowing exactly what he was talking about. And she completely agreed with his view that the World Government, more specifically the Celestial Dragons, needed to disappear as there would be no peace otherwise. After all, the Poneglyphs had only been banned for research _by the behest_ of the Celestial Dragons.

            “Luffy here does have that effect on people.” She said, giving said boy a smile, causing him to smile back.

            Kuzan nodded at that before pulling a box out of the backpack that seemed to be leaning to the side of the chair. He handed it to Luffy, knowing it’d at least distract him a tiny bit.

            “I brought back a box of the Fishman Island Candy, figured you’d like to try it.” He said.

            Luffy smiled at the man before digging right into it. Kuzan had gotten him a box of white chocolate with different sweet fillings like caramel, marshmallow, and fudge.

            “So, what are you going to do when he sets off? From what Luffy-san has told me he plans to start in East Blue, where his home used to be.” She said.

            Kuzan sighed before leaning back into his chair, noticing that Luffy was paying attention to his answer.

            “More than likely, I won’t join him on his adventure until the entrance of the Grand Line. Facing the power of an Admiral against the weakest Blue of the Four Blues would be like sending Whitebeard to face a bandit.” He said.

            Luffy nodded at that, as he understood that a bit. He wouldn’t want everything to be overkill. Robin nodded as well.

            “I understand, I think I’ll join him in the East Blue. It’ll be interesting enough to see what trouble captain-san gets into.” She said, chuckling at Luffy’s pout.

            “It’s not my fault! I don’t go looking for trouble, it finds me!” Luffy whined.

            She ruffled his hair and raised an eyebrow at that.

            “Oh really? Like how you found me by venturing off into an unknown forest?” She asked.

            That caused Luffy to sputter and turn beet red, causing Kuzan and Robin to chuckle at him.

            “Yeah but I met you and we found that really cool metal!” Luffy said.

            “Metal?” Kuzan asked, confused.

            Luffy then proceeded to explain about the Reversal Metal, which wasn’t exactly the final name for the metal. Kuzan seemed pretty interested about it, especially because it would allow him to use magma. Though he did laugh at Ace’s trouble at using ice because he admitted that he had gone through the same problems as Ace did when he had first gotten his fruit. They continued conversing for a while before it was dinner time. By the end though it seemed that Robin had started relaxing around Kuzan.

            Months later though, they were back in East Blue to pick up a specific ingredient in a medicine that Law was experimenting with. They were on one of the smaller islands that produced the ingredient. Luffy however was on the beach, playing around with his brothers. Robin was lounging in a beach chair, reading a book and keeping an eye on them. Law was at the market, looking at all the herbs that the island had, beyond the one he needed. Bepo was on the ship because he had gotten caught in one of the pranks Luffy and Robin had thrown and had gotten covered in glitter, glue, and hot pink paint. He was busy cleaning all of it off.

            While Luffy was building a sand castle while his two brothers were playing volleyball, he spotted a bottle wash ashore. He wandered over to where it was and found that it had a message in it. He quickly uncorked the bottle and read the note.

_Dear whoever finds this letter,_

_I beg of you to come save my village. Four years ago, when I was ten, a fishman and his pirate crew came and took over my village, killing my adoptive mother in the process. He then basically forced me into his crew to draw navigation maps. I say basically forced because I kind of offered to raise money to buy my village. Now, I’ve been raising money for years but have yet to reach the goal and sometimes I doubt that Arlong will keep his promise. So, anyone who finds this letter, please come save my village. Below this letter is a map of the entirety of East Blue that I have drawn, it’ll allow you to be able to navigate to the Conomi Islands and to my village, Cocoyasi Village. I beg you, please save us._

_Signed,_

_Nami_

            Sure enough, below the letter was a map of the entirety of the East Blue. He quickly found where he was and in relation to where Cocoyasi was. But then he paused. He couldn’t really save her at the moment. Oyaji had stressed that he can’t acquire a bounty before he hits seventeen because that would cause the Marines to hunt him viciously. So he quickly thought of a different plan and dashed off to the ship.

            “Lu! Where are you going?!” Ace shouted behind him.

            “I’m going to write a letter!” Luffy yelled back as he dashed off.

            It didn’t take him long to reach the ship and by proxy, his room. There he grabbed a piece of paper and began writing.

_Dear Nami,_

_I found your letter on the beach of an island that me and my family, the Whitebeard Pirates, are staying at. I would love to save you right now but me and my family can’t at the moment. Because I am only thirteen years old, fourteen in a few weeks, **and** because my family are the Whitebeard Pirates, we can’t afford to draw attention to myself or the fact we’re in the East Blue. But I promise that when I turn seventeen I’ll save you. As proof of my promise I’m going to send you these bracelets, that I can create with my Devil Fruit, called GravLocks to you. These bracelets increase the force of gravity on your body making it harder for you to move. These’ll allow you to train harder and become much stronger. Do not take off the bracelet until you’re used to the gravity and can move regularly, otherwise it’ll vanish. I estimated based on your age and how much a girl’s supposed to weigh at that age. Please trust me, even if you don’t trust pirates._

_Signed,_

_Monkey D. Luffy_

            Luffy then generated ten bracelets, not exactly sure how many she could go through in three years, each with increasing gravity. He then put the letter in the bottle along with the bracelets and then corked it. He then walked up to the deck and readjusted where he was facing until he was facing the direction of Cocoyasi Village.

            “I seriously hope this works.” Luffy muttered.

            He swung his arm back with the bottle before applying gravity to his hand and flung it. He let out a sigh of relief when the bottle rocketed off into the distance, its speed enhanced by gravity. Luffy really hoped the bottle would get to the girl.

            Miles away, about a few days later in Cocoyasi Village, an orange haired girl was watching the shore of the beach. What she didn’t expect was to be slammed in the gut by something, knocking her to the ground. When she saw what it was, she was confused that it was the same bottle that she had sent off. She quickly uncorked it and opened the letter. She read it, her facial expressions changing as she read it. Soon enough though her facial expression settled on a smile.

            “Hum~ Monkey D. Luffy eh? You might be the one pirate I actually might trust. You better come in three years.” She said.

            She then took out the bracelets and looked for the one with the smallest amount which seemed to be a bracelet with a one on it. She quickly put it on and groaned when the force of gravity slammed onto her. Though, it seemed to cause her to let out a laugh as it made her realize something

            “Huh, who knew that Devil Fruits weren’t myths… I’ll have to get a book on them.” She mused before she headed off to go talk to Nojiko, her big sister.

            About a few months later, Luffy had an idea. Despite having been to the New World, like twice, they had never really visited the Sabaody Archipelago. Sure, they stopped to get the ship coated but that was like an hour thing and all of them had stayed on the ship for that. So, Luffy asked if they could visit Sabaody Archipelago. Whitebeard, unable to really say no to Luffy’s puppy-dog eyes agreed. So, they set off and made their way to the Grand Line, knowing that they would have to pass through the Florian Triangle in order to get there. But Marco was a bit worried because there had been rumors about people vanishing. Nevertheless, they’ll get through whatever they had to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed this rather short chapter. The next chapter will obviously involve Brook but it will not include Thriller Bark, although it will involve one Thriller Bark character besides Brook. In my timeline, cause I pushed this event backwards, It’s going to be about a few months before Brook actually gets his shadow taken. Then the chapter after that will cover the time between then and canon. Please leave suggestions!


	12. Skeletons, Ghosts, and Parks Oh My!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, welcome to chapter twelve everyone! Ironically I just finished this chapter yesterday. Anyhow, this chapter covers a brief instance of Luffy mentioning that he’s had ‘The Talk’, the introduction of two new crewmates for Luffy, and Sabaody Park, briefly. I really need to get five chapters ready for this and four more for Donquixote Prince for April because April’s going to be Camp Nanowrimo where I’ll be writing for To Give Humanity a Chance as it’ll be my Nanowrimo project. I also need to really watch that Supernatural Season 1 DVD that I borrowed from the library. OH YEAH! As a fair warning, this chapter includes a song in it, but that’s standard packaging when you include one of Luffy’s new crewmates. Anyhoooow uh, let’s continue!

            Luffy had woken up the day that they were supposed to arrive in the Florian Triangle wrapped in Law’s arms. Lately the man had been rather huggy with him which brought a smile to Luffy’s face because it was meaning that he was getting closer to accepting Luffy’s proposition, for a lack of a better word. Of course, Luffy had rather recently had ‘The Talk’ with Robin who felt that everyone else’s overprotectiveness of him was rather dumb. It was probably for the best though because it seemed that Robin was the only one who could say it straightforwardly without blushing or stuttering. Rather, she calmly explained how intercourse between two men worked, what is okay and what isn’t, as well as giving him a book on non-vanilla intercourse. Luffy being Luffy, he didn’t blush at all during the talk. Rather, he nodded and smiled during the entire conversation. Of course, Robin made sure to tell him that he can’t do anything like that with Law until he hit sixteen because despite the fact that they were pirates it’s still better to be safe than have people attempt to call Law a pedophile.

            Anyways, Luffy easily slid out of Law’s arms without waking him by slipping into the Corridor by using the darkness in the room. As to why there was darkness in the room to begin with despite being early morning there was a good reason. The boys made sure that the room didn’t get any light besides a few lamps or candles so if the ship was under attack, they could have Luffy slip them all into the Corridor. In fact, to improve this method of defense on the ship, they added designated shadow areas. What these were, were areas where Luffy anchored a bit of his darkness to generate permanent shadows. Once Luffy was in the Corridor, he made his way to the designated shadow by the entrance of the mess room. Once he popped out of the shadow he walked out and into the mess room. He quickly spotted Robin sitting at a table, eating her breakfast and reading a book so he made his way over, of course after grabbing a plate of his own.

            “Robin!” Luffy shouted with cheer.

            Robin looked up and smiled, waving her hand.

            “Captain-san. I see you’re up early.” She said, taking a bite out of an egg sandwich.

            Luffy nodded and sat his plate and cup next to hers. Luffy had gotten a lot of bacon and sausage, also making sure to grab a muffin. His drink was a simple glass of orange juice, figuring he’d rather mix it up today. He looked at Robin’s plate and saw that she was eating an egg sandwich and some bacon and sausage. Her drink, as usual, was a cup of coffee that Robin always brewed herself. Robin was one of the few people that didn’t drink coffee for the caffeine but rather the taste, as she was very much a morning person and didn’t need much to wake herself up.

            “Mhm, I wanted to experiment in the Florian Triangle as soon as we get there.” Luffy said, eagerly biting into slices of bacon.

            Robin raised a brow and then took a sip of her coffee.

            “Oh?” She asked.

            Luffy nodded franticly.

            “Yup! I heard that in the Florian Triangle it’s always night time, kind of an opposite to Enies Lobby.” He said.

            “That is very true, Captain-san. What do you think you’ll be able to do?” She asked after finishing the rest of her egg sandwich.

            Luffy hummed before he spoke, clearly thinking.

            “Ah, maybe I’ll be able to travel the entirety of the Florian Triangle in the Corridor?” He mused.

            From there the two of them chatted about what he’d be able to improve with the Florian Triangle’s eternal night. After brainstorming a bit, they moved onto other things. Like for example, Robin’s relationship with Kuzan. The two seemed to have settled into a father daughter relationship, which Luffy was happy to see. Although, Kuzan had to leave a few days ago because he couldn’t be present with them while they were in Sabaody since it was so close to the Marine HQ. Around the tail end of that conversation, Sabo, Ace, and Law came on in, Bepo wasn’t with them as he went with Kuzan on a mission to Zou where Bepo really wanted to check in with his friends and family. Of the three that did walk in, only Law wasn’t a morning person. Of course, if you gave him a cup of coffee, he’d be wide awake at the first sip. Which, is why Luffy had a cup already prepared near the end of his conversation with Robin. When Luffy handed Law the cup, the man smiled tiredly at him.

            “Thanks Lu, you’re my savior.” Law said, taking a sip of the coffee.

            Luffy just hummed an assent before shooing him off to go get food. Luffy knew very well that Law needed just as much food as him, Ace, and Sabo did. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy needed a lot of food because of the fact that they were all Logia. Of course, it didn’t help that Ace and Luffy were D’s which meant an increased appetite to begin with. Law needed more food because of his Devil Fruit which drained his energy the more he used it. Of course, while he was a D, he was one of the few, according to Oyaji, that didn’t have an increased appetite. While the three were getting food, Luffy and Robin began another conversation, this time about books that they were reading.

            “So, Captain-san, as you can see, I’ve started that adventure and mystery novel you suggested.” She said, gesturing to the book she was reading.

            Luffy smiled widely before sinking his hand into his pocket dimension and yanking out a book.

            “Yeah, _Secrets at Castle Noir_? I started the book you suggested as well, _Mysteries of the Fae_.” Luffy said, gesturing to the book he pulled out.

            Most would think that Luffy didn’t like reading with how much he avoided anything that wasn’t physics. That was far from the truth, he didn’t like learning anything unless it was physics. Fictional books were perfectly okay, especially adventure, mystery, or fantasy novels, which _Mysteries of the Fae_ fell into all three. Of course, _Secrets at Castle Noir_ falls under all three as well but not until the near end.

            “Ah, so how do you like it so far?” She asked, turning a page in her book.

            “It’s really good! I’m at the part where Jonathan is introduced to the Court of the Night. Personally, I think Jonathan has a thing for his friend, James.” Luffy said.

            That seemed to cause Robin to giggle before she nodded.

            “I do think so too, there’s a lot of moments in the first book where Jonathon and James seem to like each other more than just friends. They’re just not willing to admit it.” She said, Luffy nodding his agreement.

            As the other three were approaching them, Robin started speaking again.

            “I’m having fun though with _Secrets at Castle Noir_. Right now I’m at the part where Ryan is investigating the secret room that he found in the library.” She said.

            The three seemed to catch that part of the conversation and all raised their brows.

            “Luffy has you reading the _Secrets of Ryan Briar_ series too?” Ace asked.

            That caused Robin to raise a brow.

            “You three are reading it too? He suggested it to me last week.” She said.

            Law nodded, sitting down and placing his plate on the table.

            “Yeah, he suggested it about a month after I joined. I’m currently on the second book, _Secrets at the Forest of Kako_.” Law said.

            After that, Ace chimed in.

            “Yeah, as soon as he found the series he got me and Sabo to read it. We’re caught up with Lu on the fifth book, _Secrets of the Enchanted Grimoire_.” Ace said.

            Luffy started bouncing in his seat eagerly after that.

            “The author’s planning to release the next and final book in about six months. It’s going to be called _Secrets of the Magical World_.” Luffy said eagerly.

            Shortly after that, Marco came on in and let them know that they were shortly arriving in the Florian Triangle. That prompted everyone to make their way to the deck. Sure enough, about a few minutes later the bright sunny day turned to night. The three boys, plus Law and Robin found it really cool, if how they were looking around was anything to say about it.

            The first thing Luffy did was go into the Corridor. When he did he was amazed by how huge it was due to the perpetual night time. He could also apparently tell the difference from the ship and the sea as the ship was slightly darker and didn’t move like the ocean part of the Corridor’s floor did. Luffy started exploring, walking randomly from the corridors. However, when he reached a certain distance, he spotted a large black section that seemed to resemble a ship. When he reached it he came out of the Corridor and was shocked to find a skeleton wearing a suit and playing a violin. Said skeleton seemed to be singing the sea shanty that Shanks had sung to him when he was younger.

            “ _Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo. Umikaze kimikase namimakase._ ” The skeleton sang.

            Feeling the urge to join in, Luffy started singing as well.

            “ _Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu. Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta.”_ Luffy sang.

            The skeleton didn’t seem to pause in his playing of the violin. Rather he just turned to face Luffy and seemed to smile at him before continuing to sing.

            “ _Sayonara minato, Tsumugi no sato yo. DON to icchou utao, funade no uta.”_ The skeleton sang, seemingly getting into the song a bit more.

            Seeing that they were each singing two lines a part, Luffy sang out his part.

            “ _Kinpa-ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete. Oretacha yuku zo, umi no kagiri.”_ Luffy sang.

            “ _Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo. Warera kaizoku, umi watteku.”_ The skeleton continued.

            Luffy smiled as they were singing, though he was curious about what was happening because he swore he saw a ghost-like looking thing a few seconds ago.

            “ _Nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo. Ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro._ ” Luffy continued to sing.

            Suddenly though, Luffy realized what the source of the ghosts was when someone seemed to have floated in. This person was a woman who had pink hair done up in pigtails. She was carrying a red parasol, wearing a red and black crown, a small red fur cape that only covered the top of her shoulders, a white tank top with three different hearts on it that came to only her belly button, a red mini skirt with a gold belt that had a heart shaped belt buckle, black and white stockings and red boots. Of course this person seemed interested in them to the point that she started singing as well.

            “ _Arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni. Nami ga odoru yo, DORAMU narase.”_ She sang, her voice somewhat melodious with a tinge of haunting with it.

            The skeleton just nodded and continued singing and playing.

            “ _Okubyoukaze ni fukarerya saigo. Asu no asahi ga nai ja nashi.”_ The skeleton sang.

            The skeleton then followed it up with the Yo-ho-ho-ho part before looking to Luffy to continue. Luffy nodded and sang.

            “ _Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo. Kyou ka asu ka to yoi no yume._ ” Luffy sang.

            The woman smiled before singing her part.

            “ _Te wo furu kage ni, mou aenai yo. Nani wo kuyokuyo, asu mo tsukuyo.”_ She sang out loud.

            “ _Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo. DON to icchou utao, unaba no uta._ ” Followed the skeleton.

            Seeing that it was the last two lines, Luffy sang it with all he had.

            “ _Douse dare demo itsuka wa hone yo. Hatenashi, atenashi, waraibanashi.”_ Luffy finished.

            Of course, the woman finished with the Yo-ho-ho-ho part before she floated in the air and crossed her legs.

            “That was cute.” She mused.

            “Ah, I guess you could say that. Might I ask who you two are?” The skeleton asked.

            The girl got out of her sitting pose and curtsied in the air.

            “I’m Perona.” She said softly.

            Luffy bowed as well before introducing himself.

            “I’m Monkey D. Luffy.” He said.

            “Well, I’m Brook, it is pleasant to meet you two. Though, how did you get here?” He asked, bowing as well.

            Perona gestured with her ghosts before doing a summersault in the air.

            “This is my Devil Fruit, the Horo Horo no Mi. I’m not really here, this is an astral projection. I have yet to learn how to use flight in my normal body.” She said.

            “Same here, my Devil Fruit is the Yami Yami no Mi. It lets me control Darkness and one of those abilities involves being able to travel through shadows.” Luffy said.

            Perona seemed to perk up at that, as did Brook. Perona then seemed to be thinking about something as well as Brook. However, before they could voice their thoughts, Luffy asked them a question.

            “Hey, do you two want to join my crew?” Luffy asked.

            That caused the other two to backpedal. One, because Perona’s thoughts were actually along the lines of her asking if she could travel with Luffy. It was getting rather boring sitting around every day with Gekko Moriah. The man may have raised her but still, being stuck on a giant ship wasn’t that fun. _Even if_ there were a lot of cute things for her to look after.  The reason it made Brook backpedal was because he wasn’t expecting someone to ask him to join a crew as it had been ages since he had been part of a crew due to his drifting on his ship.

            “Sure, why not.” Perona said, trying to hide her enthusiasm.

            “That’d be a great idea.” Brook said nodding.

            Luffy then turned to Perona.

            “Ah, you said this wasn’t your real body… where is it?” Luffy asked.

            She turned around and pointed in a direction.

            “There should be a giant ship in that direction, the size of an island. My body is in the large tower in a bedroom. I know you said you can travel via shadows but how does that work?” She asked.

            “Well, I basically walk or dive into the shadows and I’m in a corridor. I can differentiate between solid ground and ocean by the color of the floor. However, to make it easier, can you make your room really bright? It’ll make it much easier to find you.” Luffy said.

            Perona nodded before her astral body faded away, showing that she was going back to her body. Luffy held out a hand for Brook to grab before they walked into the Shadow Corridor. Brook seemed entertained by the area but Luffy started walking towards where Perona had pointed. Sure enough there was a gigantic, huge as hell dark spot on the ground with various light areas, showing exits by light. However, he soon spotted an exit that was shining like a veritable beacon which he headed to. Exiting the Corridor with Brook, Luffy was met with a rather extravagant room. Perona was standing up near her bed, putting a few clothes away in a suitcase. She then closed it and turned around, nodding at seeing Luffy, a small bear-like doll in her arms. Luffy held out his other hand, prompting her to grab it. They then walked into the shadows. As they were heading back to the Moby Dick, Luffy started talking.

            “You’ll like my family, I’m not yet setting out because I’m only fourteen but until then, I’m staying with them.” Luffy said.

            “Family?” Perona asked, curious as her parents had died when she was young which had been what prompted her to be adopted by Moriah.

            “Mhm, you actually probably know them, the Whitebeard Pirates.” Luffy absentmindedly said.

            That seemed to cause pause to the two before Perona just shrugged and continued on. It wasn’t much of a big deal to her, it just meant that she wasn’t leaving Moriah with zero protection. Brook though seemed a bit reminiscent.

            “Isn’t that led by Edward Newgate?” He asked.

            Luffy tilted his head, confused before ah’ing.

            “Oh you mean Pops! Yeah, that’s his name.” Luffy said.

            Brook nodded a bit.

            “I met the man once when he was much younger, about in his twenties. He was an honorable man and quite a partier.” Brook said.

            Luffy ooh’ed and aah’ed at that before asking a question.

            “Nee, Brook how old are you, and how are you a skeleton?” Luffy asked.

            Brook gave a slight sad look before nodding.

            “I’m eighty-five. As to how I’m this, I died at one point.” Brook said.

            Perona had an interesting reaction with her eyes bugging out before she promptly calmed herself. Luffy though had an eager look on his face.

            “How are you alive then?” Luffy asked.

            “Well, a decade or so before I died, I had eaten a Devil Fruit, the Yomi Yomi no Mi or the Revive Revive Fruit. Of course, nothing had happened but we knew it was a Devil Fruit because I couldn’t swim after eating it.” Brook explained as they were walking along.

            “That’s odd, this is the first time I’m hearing of a Devil Fruit needing something to happen before the powers kick in.” Perona mused.

            Luffy nodded at that before gesturing for Brook to continue.

            “Well, I guess it’s in the name. Anyhow, when my crew… died and I did as well, my soul was ejected from my body and sent wandering. It took me a while to find my body again, as you can see from its condition.” Brook said.

            Soon after that, Luffy spotted the darkened ground that signified the Moby Dick and phased them out. What met his sight was Robin, Law, Ace, and Sabo all playing cards. Marco was flying around in the sky in his Phoenix form, looking around. The four playing cards looked in their direction and their eyes widened seeing Perona and Brook. Ace seemed to break out into laughter.

            “Leave it to Luffy to come back with a skeleton of all things.” Ace said, laughing, Sabo just rolling his eyes at Ace’s antics.

            “These are your new fellow crew members, a scout and a musician! Meet Perona and Brook!” Luffy said.

            Perona raised a brow at Luffy.

            “Scout?” She asked.

            “Mhm! You _can_ see what your ghosts see right?” Luffy asked, tilting his head.

            She nodded but had a bemused expression on her face.

            “Yeah but I didn’t expect you to figure that out within minutes of knowing me.” She said with a laugh that seemed to match the name of her Devil Fruit, just like Oyaji’s laugh.

            The other gestured for them to sit down and join them in the card game. Right now they were playing Lucky Bastard, a game that Robin had introduced to them. The three managed to get a handle on the game real fast and were playing as the ship sailed along. Sometime while they were playing, Marco came down and introduced himself to the two who had joined Luffy. Perona told them to avoid the direction of Thriller Bark, where Luffy had picked up Perona. She explained that it was the ship of the Shichibukai, Gekko Moriah and that it might be best to avoid him for now. The man was thinking about kidnapping people to steal their shadows with his Kage Kage no Mi but they couldn’t really do anything about it without drawing the complete attention of the Marines to them. So, instead they just sailed along.

            About a week later, Perona and Brook had managed to fit in perfectly and they had finally reached Sabaody Archipelago. They anchored near a bar that most of the crew was familiar with, Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar. Apparently it was home to the wife of the Dark King Rayleigh and the woman was rather friendly to them and didn’t mind them shoring by her bar. Luffy got to briefly meet the woman who seemed interesting enough before they all headed off to Sabaody Park.

            The first stop they made, as it was the closest, was the Horror Show. Out of all of them, Perona liked it the most which Luffy found funny because she liked cute things but at the same time liked horror. Of course, Robin liked it too, which Luffy attributed to her status as an archaeologist and like for all things morbid. On the flip side, it turned out that Brook didn’t like it which was hilarious since the man was a skeleton. After that they went on one of the rollercoasters, which they all of course enjoyed thoroughly, especially the water ride rollercoaster. For a much simpler ride after that, they rode on the Ferris Wheel which was cool because of the view of the entire area they could see. Hours later though, they were done and were heading back to the ship when Luffy saw a man with a weird bubble hat beating somebody. He was about to go stop the man but Perona stopped him.

            “I have to help that guy!” Luffy said.

            She shook her head as did Robin and Brook.

            “Why not!” Luffy shouted.

            “Because Captain-san, that’s a Celestial Dragon. If you were to attack them an Admiral would be summoned to deal with you.” Robin said.

            Luffy just glared as they dragged him aware. When they reached the ship, Marco saw the glare and frowned.

            “What’s wrong with him, yoi?” He asked.

            “He saw a Celestial Dragon beating a slave.” Perona piped in.

            That seemed to cause Marco to wince before he crouched in front of Luffy.

            “Look, I know you wanted to help that person but there isn’t much to do, yoi. It’d be you versus the entirety of the Marines, yoi.” Marco said.

            “But that’s stupid! Why can’t we do anything! I’m sure we all could handle the Marines if we tried.” Luffy said, Ace and Sabo nodding.

            Marco sighed and then shook his head.

            “No we couldn’t, yoi. For us they’d more than likely call Sengoku himself on us, yoi.” Marco said.

            Luffy suddenly got a determined look on his face, one that seemed to build a fire in his crewmates.

            “Then I’ll change it! If I have to, I’ll change the Marines and make them act against the Celestial Dragons!” Luffy shouted.

            Marco chuckled at Luffy’s enthusiasm before ruffling his hair.

            “If anyone can do it, it’s you, yoi.” Marco said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, chapter done! Hope yall liked it. Wasn’t exactly sure if I could get it around 4,000 words, minus the AN it’s like 3850 I think? Perona and Brook are now part of Luffy’s crew! Uh, so I need you guys to tell me whether or not you want this to happen. You see, Luffy’s Devil Fruit can reverse the decay process on Brook’s body, giving him skin but it’s up to you guys if you want it. I really need to know before I start typing the chapter. Secondly, I know Perona seems OC but that’s cause it’s rather difficult to write her immature self compared to her 2 Year Timeskip Mature self. Anyhow she won’t be immature next chapter anyways as next chapter covers the last three years before Luffy hits seventeen and leaves on his journey, which is enough time for her to mature into her TS self. The next chapter will cover as a hint, Robin getting fed up with Law dancing around the subject of his like for Luffy. Expect people being locked in closets and not just Law and Luffy. As usual I love your suggestions! This time around please give suggestions pertaining to Brook’s body or what you want me to do via the canon events.


	13. The Years Between! Before Seventeen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright this is a rather short chapter, mostly because not much happens between Sabaody Park and Canon. Like I’ve said in all of this week’s updates, I’ll only be updating at the beginning of the month and the end of the month to reduce stress for myself. Also, heh, today is technically ASL Friday Update Day because I’m throwing Decisions Over Tea onto Friday’s Update schedule. I say technically because the pairing for DOT is Ace/Sabo/Luffy. I’m not that far into it but I have four chapters ready anyways. Hopefully you enjoy this update!

            The months after they visited Sabaody Park, Luffy and his burgeoning crew got to know Brook and Perona. For one, despite Brook’s apparent age and wisdom as a member of the Generation of the Pirate King he could act pretty childish. In fact, he encouraged Luffy’s occasional childish acts. On top of that, the man could occasionally be a bit perverted but that attitude seemed to be diminishing as they got to know each other. They also learned of the man’s dream which was to see an island whale that he knew when he sailed with the Rumbar Pirates, Laboon. Of course he said he wouldn’t mind waiting until Luffy himself crossed Reverse Mountain.

            One of the things Luffy talked about with Brook was regenerating his skin and muscles, as his Devil Fruit can reverse the decay of things, since it was much easier than reversing the age of something. In fact, it used about half the life force that a gem had. However, Brook had kindly declined Luffy’s offer, saying he had gotten used to how his body was and changing it back would take a long while to get used to it. Speaking of that ability, Luffy had been slowly learning how to apply the ability in different ways. One of those ways was reversing injuries on a person’s body or even removing scars and tattoos rather than their age. This of course took a lot of effort because the inherent nature of the life force was to reverse the person’s age, not just certain parts of their bodies. Also, extremely severe injuries and diseases were out of Luffy’s healing range. This was because the more severe the injury the more life force it ate up because it pushed the person’s own life force closer to death. Think of it like this, a person who is on their deathbed due to a severe injury would have the life force equivalent of a person nearing the end of their natural lifespan. Disease-wise, it didn’t work because diseases fought the process of reversion, certain diseases that is. Diseases that fought the process were extremely malignant diseases like stage three and four cancers, AIDs and HIV, and Ebola, aka the diseases that even with normal means you weren’t likely to survive. However, thankfully Torao was doing his best to learn how to cure those diseases with his Devil Fruit. Any other disease, Luffy could easily reverse but the closer it got to those malignant diseases, the more life force was needed to heal the person. For example, a person with Stage 2 Leukemia bordering on Stage 3 required almost sixty years of life force to heal it, despite the fact that the person was only seventeen. A person of the same age but with Stage 1 Leukemia only needed about ten years of life force. It was rather interesting experimenting with the ability, even more interesting when relatives of the victims were donating their life force to see their relative live. Nothing’s more intimate than sharing your life force after all.

            Back to getting to know the new crew members, Perona was interesting enough as well. The woman, despite her age seemed to have an obsession for all things cute. This prompted her turning her bedroom into a stuffed animal filled room. Of course, a suggestion by her actually pushed on an experiment between Luffy and Brook. You see, Perona had requested to see if Brook and Luffy could ‘bring to life’ her stuffed bear that she owned. She theorized that since Brook’s Devil Fruit was based on the soul and Luffy’s on the life force part, they could possibly bring it to life. That interested everybody for different reasons. Robin was interested because it’d be a brilliant research topic, Brook because he always thought that his devil fruit was merely for resurrection, Luffy because he liked experimenting, and everyone else cause it was cool. This process of course took the better part of the year as Brook had to dig deep with his Devil Fruit. That however, turned out to be for the better because about halfway through the year, Brook had found out that his Devil Fruit allowed a connection to the underworld. This enabled him to do quite a lot of things combat wise. First of all, Brook could freely detach his soul from his body to more or less gather information. It was quite like Perona’s Horo Horo no Mi but to a lesser degree. Secondly, Brook could imbue his sword with the chill of the underworld, which gave it the ability to manipulate ice. Lastly, the result that they were looking for, Brook could ask the souls of the underworld if they’d be up to helping him, this allowed him to, more or less, summon souls from beyond the veil. Brook however, took that ability and went beyond it. With Luffy’s help, Brook could use the life force in a gem to create a brand new soul. This soul was used to animate Perona’s stuffed bear and the result was rather immediate. The soul seemed to take on the qualities of the medium it was put in, acting like a baby bear, which Perona loved a lot.

            One of the things Robin theorized, was that Luffy and Brook could _possibly_ bring a person back to life. However, she also theorized that something like that would need untold amounts of life force because a soul once dead does not belong on the plane of the living. It would also probably drain Brook and Luffy to the max to the point of being exhausted for weeks. Of course, that brought up questions as to how Brook’s Devil Fruit kept him alive then. Robin simply explained that more than likely, what the Yomi Yomi no Mi did, was enhance a person’s own soul way beyond normal qualities in order to make their soul anchored to the world of living. So, when the person died, they would have one foot in the underworld and the other in the living world.

            Of course, Luffy and Brook weren’t the only one experimenting with their powers. Perona got ideas on what to do with her powers after Brook learned to move his soul out of his body. She could do just the same, in fact it was almost the exact same but instead it was an astral projection of her ‘ghost’ and it couldn’t really affect anything. While in Astral Projection, she could float and go through walls. What Perona wanted to see, is if she could apply the powers to herself while not astral projecting. It took her quite a while but she was able to do it pretty well. She couldn’t phase through walls yet but she could float, which would be rather helpful if she was ever thrown off the ship by an enemy or something.

            About a year before Luffy turned seventeen, Robin had finally got fed up with Ace and Sabo and Luffy and Law. The two duos were dancing around each other. Well, Ace and Sabo were dancing around each other whereas Luffy wanted to be with Law but Law still hadn’t buckled under the pressure yet. So, the first thing she did was lock Law and Luffy in a closet. Now, one may be wondering as to why Luffy and Law just didn’t escape the closet, well that would have to be because for one, she took Law’s sword. Without his sword, Law couldn’t cut the door open. Two, the close that she locked them in was at the bottom of the ship and if Law were to swap them wrong with Room, they’d end up in the ocean and while Luffy could swim, Law couldn’t. Next, Luffy couldn’t knock down the door with enhanced Haki strength because Robin had Marco standing by the door and reinforcing it with Haki. Lastly, Luffy couldn’t drag them into the shadows because the closet had a window that filtered a lot of light into the room, eliminating any shadows in the closet. So, they effectively were locked in there.

            “I told you that she was going to get fed up one day.” Luffy said awkwardly.

            Law was currently glaring at the wall in the closet. It wasn’t that he was mad at Luffy, the opposite really. He was really only mad at Robin for forcing this scenario. For one, it was way too cliché and spoke of romance novelesque situations. For two, he had been wanting to avoid this situation as long as possible. Luffy had grown on him in the years that he had known the boy and an attraction _was_ there. He just didn’t want to set himself up for loss even though he _knew_ that Luffy would never hurt him. It was just an added effect of having grown up in the situation he did as a kid, having lost all his friends and family to a disease. With that said, he gave a sigh before turning to Luffy.

            “I know, I just wish she hadn’t gotten fed up now.” He said.

            They stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.

            “So…. You know we’re not getting out of here unless we accept this relationship we have.” Luffy said.

            Law rolled his eyes at that statement. He knew that and he also knew he was being rather childish about it. To be honest, to most outsiders it would seem as if Luffy and Law were already in a relationship. For one, they spent a lot of time together, outside of the time that Luffy spent hanging out with his crew members and brothers. Add to that, the fact that Luffy and Law practically cuddled when they slept, most would assume that the two were already together. They however, hadn’t taken the step forward and declared it a relationship yet.

            “I know, but I’m just worried, what happens if you die?” Law asked honestly.

            Luffy rose an eyebrow at that.

            “I mean, life is unpredictable, but I don’t plan on dying until I’m the Pirate King. Plus, both of us are as equally likely to die. I mean, I’m the son of the Revolutionary Dragon which is going to lead to me being attacked by Marines and you’re an enemy of Doflamingo Donquixote, a Shichibukai.” Luffy added.

            Inwardly, Law admitted Luffy had a point. With Luffy’s status as the son of a globally wanted criminal, he was likely to be hunted by Marines when it was revealed to the world. And Doflamingo Donquixote was a dangerous man in his own right. Add on top of that the fact that Law was planning on hunting the man down to make the man pay for killing Cora-san.

            “So what would change if we did pursue a relationship?” Law asked.

            Luffy smiled at that, happy to see that Law was changing his mind.

            “Well, we’d be more intimate for one… but maybe nothing extremely intimate for a while. We don’t want to dive into the deep end after all.” Luffy said.

            Law liked the sound of that and he admitted that the sexual parts he would rather wait for. Especially since he was like seven years older than Luffy. Although, Law had a question.

            “What will we do when Robin forces Ace and Sabo together?” Law asked.

            Luffy chuckled at that because he knew that Robin would be doing just that immediately after he and Law got together. The question, however was completely valid as Luffy, Law, Sabo, Ace, and Bepo all shared a room.

            “Well, we could still share a room but if we want alone time we could have separate rooms.” Luffy said.

            That could work, especially since Blenheim was planning on constructing them a ship to sail in. Blenheim had planned on giving each of the crew members Luffy had their own rooms as well as plan on extra rooms, just in case Luffy recruited other people. Accepting Luffy’s response Law finally gave Luffy a kiss on the mouth. Of course, Luffy was rather surprised by the kiss and didn’t respond for a few seconds. However after those few seconds were up, Luffy eagerly responded to the kiss, pushing back. The kiss was wonderful on both sides of it, the two thoroughly enjoying it. The kiss was broken up however when Marco opened the door, smiling at them, causing the two to blush.

            “Well you two took your time, yoi.” He said with a chuckle, causing Luffy and Law to promptly walk away.

            About a few months later, Robin did the same thing with Ace and Sabo but instead of Marco guarding the door, it was Kuzan who used his strongest ice to prevent Ace from melting or burning the door down. They seemed to take much longer than Luffy and Law did. According to Kuzan a lot of it was spent in silence. It wasn’t until Ace had gotten fed up with the silence that it went anywhere. Ace confessed to Sabo who confessed back and it descended into them finally accepting their relationship and finally kissing. Of course, Robin was happy that they finally got together and there wouldn’t be any awkward tension between them all.

            When Luffy finally turned seventeen, the Whitebeard Pirates threw a party to celebrate. Luffy and his crew were to set out the next day and Kuzan the day after to make his way to Reverse Mountain. Of course, the Moby Dick would be guiding them through the Calm Belt into the East Blue where they’d then head back to the New World after dropping off Luffy, his crew, and his ship. Marco and the other commanders were sad to see Luffy and the others go but they knew that it was time for them to make their own memories. So, the day that they set out for Dawn Island was a sad day for everyone. However, they knew that Luffy and everyone else would be making some waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so at the next update we’ll be starting the canon timeline. Canon will be different-ish because of the fact that they grew up with the WB Pirates, obviously. This is actually another one of the reasons that I’m spacing out updates. Because, most of my stories are finally nearing canon so I have to make each instance different. Anyways, suggestions are always welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please review, it makes me happy! Also, if you haven’t checked out Death’s Gift to His Master try it out. Although, I do believe this is a bit better than it considering I have to follow plot in Death’s Gift.


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